The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber
by Unit Omicron
Summary: Spyro and Cynder have just defeated the Dark Master and peace has returned to the Dragon Realms. However, all is not what it seems to be. A dark power begins to creep into the heroes' minds and they have to find a way to stop it before its too late. New heroes emerge and one Earth Dragon must fight to protect everything he holds dear. Rated T for Violence and Minor Adult Themes.
1. Chapter 1: The End of Days

**A/N: Hey, there! Thanks for visiting my story. **

**This is my first attempt at a story on FanFiction, so constructive criticism is GREATLY appreciated. However, I do not tolerate flaming. Please refrain from doing so.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world, events, characters or any other aspect related to the _Legend of Spyro _game series. All rights belong to their respective owners. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Again, thanks for reading the prologue to my first story, and please enjoy!**

Normal Text=Narration and Dialogue

_Italicized Text=Thoughts and Flashbacks_

**Bolded Text=Author's Notes and Other Comments**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 1: The End of Days**

Cynder opened her emerald eyes and she peered out at her surroundings. She had to close her eyes again because of the bright light that was now cascading into her bright green orbs. Memories came flooding back into her head. She and Spyro had just defeated Malefor. Spyro had reformed the world. The Dragon Realms were back into the way that they were supposed to be.

And...she had confessed her feelings to the purple dragon. Had he heard her? Did he feel the same way? She couldn't be sure, but she would ask him later.

She smiled at the bright landscape around her. The landmasses were taking longer to reform than she had expected, some of the reforming continents still drifted apart in floating clusters of islands. However, most of the planet had reconnected and it looked lke the rest were slowly but surely doing the same. The sun was shining much brighter than Cynder remembered, with its light cascading down from the cosmos like a solid ray.

She was in a small clearing surrounded by a light forest; the black dragoness could see a few hundred yards in each direction and outside of the small forest. To the north was a small stream that was cascading from the north to the southwest. Rocks impeded the movement of the powerful onrush of the water, but the force of the clear stream just went around and powered on through. The small body of water was not very large, it only looked to be a few yards across at its maximum width. The water issued a small rushing sound as the light droplets scraped across the rocky surface of the stream. It was soothing and relaxing to Cynder. She hadn't seen a peaceful stream like this since she had been to the Valley of Avalar.

A slight breeze swept through the trees and chilled Cynder's surroundings. She wasn't cold, though, the bright sun warmed the land more than she remembered. Had the sun become even brighter since Spyro had reformed the world? Had the Realms somehow...moved towards the sun? There was way to be sure about it.

The black dragoness stood up and inspected her body, checking for any wounds. Her black scales were unscathed, and her magenta colored underbelly lacked scrapes and bruises as well. The dark black scales and magenta membrane on her wings had been left untouched as well. Her horns and claws had been dulled, but that was due to all of the fighting. Finally, she brought her obsidian tail up to her face and inspected her tail blade. It was also very dull. Cynder didn't care. She was blessed to be alive.

She smiled and looked up at the rising sun, pondering what had just happened to her and…Spyro. The smile quickly turned to shock, as she realized that she didn't see Spyro in her immediate surroundings.

"Spyro! Where are you?" Spyro!" She shouted as she ran through the trees around her, running in every direction and looking for the purple dragon.

"Spyro!"

She stopped by the small stream not far from where she had woken up and looked both ways. He wasn't in either direction of her view, and he wasn't in the water either. Cynder quickly turned back around and ran back into the trees, still shouting the dragon's name.

"Spyro!"

She was starting to lose hope. Where could that purple dragon have gone? She stopped in the middle of a large clearing. Tears began to fill up in her eyes. She couldn't lose him…not after everything that they had been through together. Not after what she had told him...

"_I love you._" She thought.

Then, there was a speck of purple that she saw in the corner of her eye.

She quickly turned to her left and saw a figure lying on the ground. The figure had all purple scales, a golden underbelly, horns and claws. The dragon's golden and orange wings set in behind it, tattered and broken on the ground. Its golden scepter shaped tail lay behind it, slumped over in a coil-like form. There was only one dragon that it could be.

"Spyro!"

Cynder ran over to the dragon and inspected him.

He wasn't moving.

"Spyro! Wake up! It's Cynder! Spyro, please!" Cynder shouted at the motionless figure spread out in front of her. Tears were streaming down her face at this point, terrified at the lack of movement in Spyro's body.

Cynder went around the front side of Spyro's body and put a paw on his neck, feeling to see if he had a pulse.

Spyro still lie there, not moving.

"Please...come back to me. I can't lose you..." She whispered.

Cynder put her paw up to his neck and then quickly turned away, tears still pouring down her face.

There was no vibration in Spyro's neck or his heart.

"...Spryro?" Cynder whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Great cliffhanger, right? :D Just to clarify, the story WILL continue from here. The next few chapters should come within the next few weeks, but I am finishing up school at the moment and may not have time during the week to type. Expect these to come out on the weekends as opposed to weekdays. And for those of you that are worried about Spyro…wait until next time! :D**

**One last thing, please drop me a review and tell me how I'm doing. I'm still a developing writer, so praise and criticism alike would be great!**

**See you all later!**

_**Best Regards-UO**_

_**Update: 5/24/13-I removed the summary of the end of the game due to it being a turn-off for some of my readers. This brought the total word count down, for those of you wondering why this chapter looks so much shorter than the rest.**_


	2. Chapter 2: Fighting for Control

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 2: Fighting for Control**

Cynder had flown Spyro's lifeless body back to Warfang, using all of the strength that she could muster. Tears continued to flow down her face as the great city came into view. On the outskirts of the city, the reconstructed Dragon Temple glistened in the sunlight. In the three years that had passed between Spyro's and Cynder's imprisonment under the collapsed Mountain of Malefor, the Moles had offered to build a new temple after Malefor had captured the original from the Swamp. The new temple in Warfang looked mostly the same as the old temple, but was much more modern than the former had been. The reconstructed temple looked much alike to the old temple. It featured a large great room at the center where the Guardians met and convened. The pool of visions had been replaced as well, with magic used by the Guardians' powers combined together. The rest of the temple spanned outwards around the great room, featuring a circular like shape. The Guardians were planning to open an academy for young dragons once some calm had settled in to the newly reformed world. Because of this, the temple now featured many different amenities that made it more of a school than a temple. The outside layer featured many dormitories and bedrooms. The next circular layer featured classrooms and towers where dragons could learn from their instructors, as well as look out on the city below. Beyond that, there were training rooms for elemental practice and a large sparring arena for full contact training tournaments. It felt like home sweet home to the aging Guardians.

Terrador was on the main balcony that faced away from the city and outside the walls. Since the disappearance of Ignitus, he had taken on the role of temporary Master Guardian. If Ignitus did not return from the journey, he was to be elected the permanent Master, serving until his own demise. The large and muscular green dragon stood watching the horizon for any signs of movement. Outside the walls was the grassland where Malefor's army had marched through as they attempted to take the city. Beyond the sea of green laid the volcanic mountain where Spyro, Cynder and Ignitus had gone to defeat Malefor. Obviously that had succeeded, but it had been two weeks since the survivors from the cave had returned to the city. Terrador and the other guardians were becoming less and less hopeful that the three had survived the battle with Malefor with each passing day. Terrador had remained on the balcony for most of the time, looking west towards the volcano.

Suddenly, two colored specks appeared in the sky; a purple and black speck, both flying very near to each other. It had to be them.

"Cyril! Volteer! Come here! I think they're back!"

Volteer was the first to appear on the balcony. The bright yellow colored dragon was overjoyed to hear the news and had flown up the stars in less than five seconds.

"Ah, yes, I see them now! This is just wonderful news, Terrador! The saviors are returning to Warfang! I can't wait to see them and hear all abou-"

"That will be enough, Volteer!" a voice shouted.

Cyril came out onto the balcony and shook his head. The light blue and purple dragon was much calmer than his partner, and their personalities often clashed with one another.

"Must you always be so overzealous about EVERYTHING?"

Volteer just hung his head in shame.

"Now, Terrador, where are they?" Cyril inquired.

Terrador pointed to the two specks in the sky, though they were much more than specks now. It was certainly Spyro and Cynder…but was Cynder carrying Spyro? And where was Ignitus?

Cynder landed on the balcony in front of the three Guardians after a few minutes had and set the form of Spyro down on the ground. She hadn't stopped sobbing since discovering Spyro in the middle of the clearing. That had been two days ago.

The three Guardians stood in shock of the sight laid out before them. Cynder was crying, Spyro wasn't moving and Ignitus was nowhere to be found. Terrador approached Cynder and sat down next to Spyro's body.

"What happened, young one?" said Terrador in his usual baritone voice.

Cynder looked up at the Guardian and then continued sobbing. She couldn't put the thought from her mind. The one thing that had been with her since the beginning of the war and the one thing that she had fought for was gone. Cynder motioned her head to Spyro and put her face in her paws. Terrador moved over to Spyro and noticed him lying completely still. Terrador then understood. He moved back towards Cynder and motioned for the other two Guardians to join him. Both Cyril and Volteer understood, and both stayed silent as they continued over and sat down next to Terrador. All three were silent for a long time.

Cyril was the first to speak, "Young dragon…what has happened?"

With tears in her eyes, Cynder was barely able to speak, but she did her best to explain what had transpired since they had left for the Ring of Fire with Ignitus. She told the dragons that towered over her about everything…from Ignitus' demise in the Ring of Fire, to Malefor's defeat…and then...Spyro. She quickly turned her head down again and continued sobbing into her arms.

The three Guardians stared at one another, unsure of what to do. Terrador slowly stood up and walked over to Spyro. He put a paw against the dragon's unmoving chest. He was cold as ice. Terrador, however, was not convinced. He was pinged with a certain feeling…what it was precisely, he didn't know. He frowned at the purple body before him. He wasn't convinced that the Savior of the Realms was dead. Terrador put his paw against Spyro's neck, just as Cynder had done days before. The three other dragons stared at the Earth Guardian, small looks of confusion on their faces. The Earth Guardian still felt nothing. He frowned again.

Terrador was still not convinced.

"Put Spyro into one of the rooms in the sleeping quarters. Make sure that he is comfortable." He said, without glancing at the three dragons behind him. He slowly began to walk back towards the door to the temple.

"Where are you going?" Volteer shouted at the Guardian as he walked off.

Terrador looked over his shoulder and stated, "To see an old friend." He entered the temple and the door closed behind him.

* * *

Terrador sighed and continued to soar through the skies. He was heading to a place where few dragons ever dared to venture to, the White Isle, home of the Chronicler. None of the Guardians or Cynder had received any word from the old dragon, but Terrador knew better. He had peered into the pool of visions before he has left, and had seen something rather peculiar. He had seen Spyro's stiff form, but with a certain…dark aura surrounding his body. Terrador couldn't comprehend the vision, and when he went to the other Guardians for help, they knew nothing. There was only one dragon that could help him, and that was the Chronicler. He had never met the dragon personally, but knew in his heart that the Chronicler would help. He had to.

No one really knew the location of the Isle, besides Spyro and his little dragonfly companion, Sparx. They were the only creatures to ever find the Isle without going there in a dream. Spyro still wasn't moving, so that meant that Terrador had to get the location from Sparx. Sparx had not been his usual self ever since Cynder had returned to the Temple. with Spyro's body with her. He hadn't made any smart-aleck comments and was mostly confined to his dormitory for most of the day. He checked on Spyro three times throughout the day, but there was no sign of life in the purple dragon.

"Sparx?" Terrador had said, knocking on the door. "It's Terrador. May I come in?"

"Come in." A low and solemn voice came from within.

Terrador had opened the door and slowly walked in. Sparx had been lying on the tiny bed that was set up against the front side wall.

The yellow dragonfly had not looked at the Earth Guardian, but he had spoken and said, "What do you need, Terrador?"

"The other Guardians and I think there might be a way to find out what's really going on with Spyro. We're not ready to give up on him quite yet. However, we need your help." Terrador had said.

"If you think it'll help..." Sparx had said, but he still didn't look at Terrador.

"I need the location of the White Isle. I need to go see the Chronicler."

Sparx had perked up a bit and smacked his hand against his head. "Of course! Why didn't we think of this sooner? Sparx had started fluttering his wings and had flew over to a small chest in the corner of the room. "Before we left, I grabbed this small map off of one of the Chronicler's shelves. I'm good at stealing and hiding things." He had said with a laugh. He had handed the map to Terrador and smiled.

"Hope that helps, big guy. Go get em', eh? Unless you need a brave and strong guide to help you get there?" Sparx had flexed his non-existent muscles at this.

Terrador had issued one of his booming laughs that he rarely used and said, "Thank you for this, Sparx. But, you should stay here. Spyro needs one of his family members here. We do not want anyone to harm the body."

Sparx's face had became serious again and he said, "Of course. He's my brother. I won't let any harm come to him."

Terrador had nodded and patted Sparx's shoulder. He had then left the temple and followed the in the general direction of the island based on the map. The Isle was off the southeast coast of the coast of the continent, and it was a fourteen days journey from Warfang. Terrador, however, had encountered no trouble and on the thirteenth day, he had finally found the Isle of legend.

Terrador landed on the hovering island and began to make his way towards the inner chamber, where the old dragon resided. Terrador was surprised to find all of the gates and doors unlocked, not having to pass any of the trails that Spyro had to on his first visit here three years ago. Terrador slowly walked into the inner sanctum. He gasped at the sight of it all. In the center of the room sat the largest hourglass that he had ever seen. Despite his height, it was at least two times the size of the Earth Guardian. Terrador drew his gaze away from the time-keeper and glanced around the circular room. Thousands, if not millions of books sat on many filled bookcases around the room; these books sometimes fluttered to and from certain shelves, propelled by magic forces unknown to the Guardian. Terrador gasped as a book hovered right in front of him, not opened, and sat itself onto the ground.

"Terrador." A frail voice said from behind the Earth Guardian.

Terrador quickly spun around and noticed an old blue colored dragon standing behind him. The older dragon smiled and walked towards the Earth Guardian.

"Greetings, Chronicler, I have come to-"

The Chronicler raised a paw for him to stop. "Please, Terrador, must we stand on formalities? I thought you would recognize an…old friend."

Terrador narrowed his eyes at the blue dragon standing before him. The voice did sound familiar, and the facial features were just right…but…no…but…he had to ask.

"Is that you…Ignitus?" Terrador suddenly exclaimed.

Ignitus nodded slowly. "The previous Chronicler has passed on, into the next world. He has now assigned me this task of archiving the events of this new age."

"It is glorious to see you alive, my friend! The two young dragons said you had perished…"

"I had, Terrador. But, my spirit has been saved and I am happy to take on this responsibility for this new age. Now, as to why you are here…?" Ignitus said, and slowly cocked his head to the right, expecting an answer.

Terrador sighed and said, "Spyro has…perished in the fight against Malefor. However, I am unsure of his apparent demise. Have your books pointed to anything that might explain the young dragon's current situation?" He asked the Fire Guardian.

Ignitus sighed and nodded his head. "Your suspicions are correct, my friend. Spyro is not dead." He moved to Terrador's side and opened the book that sat in front of the two Guardians. Pictures of Spyro's life flashed through the pages as Ignitus finally stopped on the most recent entry in the book, a picture of the three surviving Guardians and Cynder huddled over the broken form of Spyro. "You see, this was the most recent entry, but as of a few moments ago…that changed." Ignitus turned the page and Terrador's face flooded with confusion at what he saw on the page.

An image of Spyro in an endless, dark void was on the page. Spyro was bearing his fangs at something that facing him, but was not visible in the picture.

"What is he doing?" Inquired Terrador, eyes still focused on the image.

Ignitus closed the book and turned to Terrador. "He is fighting for control of his mind." He continued, "Spyro's mind is fragmented. His dark side that he has tried so hard to contain is trying to break free and take complete control over his body. He is currently in a dreamscape-type world. You might compare it to the Realm of Convexity that he told us about after the fight with Cynder. The dark side is trapped in a portion of his mind that is usually sealed off. However when huge fits of sadness or anger wash over him, this 'Dark Spyro' form pushes its way out his mind and take control over his thoughts and action. Because of the last time that he used the form after my death, the darkness took even more control over portions of his mind. If he uses it again….he will be completely consumed by it. Since the death of Malefor, the darkness has tried to win a losing battle of taking over his mind and soul. However, due to over exhaustion of the battle with the Dark Master, the darkness had tried with one last ditch attempt to take control and over power Spyro's consciousness. He is now in a comatose type state, being near to death, but his heart is still beating…very slowly. The state is commonly referred to as…the Eternal Slumber."

Terrador went silent for a moment, letting all of what Ignitus had said soak in. He finally said, "Could it be that someone else is trying to use it to take over his mind as well? A servant of the Dark Master, perhaps?"

Ignitus pondered this question for a moment and then responded with, "I think only Spyro knows the answer to that question."

Both Guardians peered back into the book, nervous to see what would become of the young purple legend.

* * *

Spyro opened his eyes, for the first time in millennia it seemed like to him. He rubbed his left eye with his paw and continued blinking, trying to see the world around him. What he saw made him gasp and stand up immediately.

He was no longer in the Dragon Realms, that much was certain. A vast nothingness stretched out for as far as he could see and he saw shining lights all around him. He had no idea what had happened since he had pulled the world back together…or did he? Spyro scratched his head with his right paw and tried to remember how it all had gone down. He remembered hovering into the air, and then someone whispering something into his ear, which he couldn't make out at the time. It had to have been Cynder that had said it…

"_I wish she were here. That would make finding my way out of this…place…so much easier._"

Spyro continued to use his eyes and peer around the empty space he was in. He walked forward, hoping to see a sign from something...anything. He was in an area that looked much like the realm of Convexity, where he fought Cynder for the last time. There were strange creatures hovering around the perimeter of the area, and there were floating platforms around as well. Besides that, there were no signs of dragons or any sentient life in this place. He walked forward and looked down off of the platform he was standing on. There was limitless space below him as well. He felt a searing pain in his head again and it forced him to sit down for a moment. He had no idea where he was, what was going on, and if he had saved the Realms or not. All he knew is that his head hurt. A lot.

He struggled and picked himself back up off the ground. He walked and jumped across the platforms that dotted the landscape of this area. He stopped to inspect for any wounds on his body. There were none, but he was light headed and confused. A thought of Cynder passed through his mind again. He had to find a way to see her again…to find a way back to her. That thought gave him the strength to continue forward.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? Hello? Cynder, are you there? He asked into the void. He received no answer.

He sighed and lied down where he was. He had no idea what to do. A tear formed in his eye as he thought of his friends.

"_They must be worried sick about me._" He thought.

Feeling the pain of his head continuing to reach him, he put his head down and started to close his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

Terrador touched down on the balcony of the Dragon Temple and quickly hurried inside. He approached the sleeping quarters and began to search each room for Spyro. He passed the fourth room on the right and saw Cynder's sleeping form on the bed. He shook his head and continued down the hall. Two doors down from Cynder and on the left side of the hall, he saw the slumbering form of Spyro, propped up in a comfortable position on the bed. Cyril sat by the bed side, looking at the form of Spyro. His eyes were wet from crying. Terrador was surprised by this; he had not known that Cyril had a sensitive side. He chuckled at this thought, making Cyril jump.

"Terrador, what news do you have from the Chronicler? Can Spyro be revived?" said Cyril as he stood up out of his chair and walked towards the green dragon.

Terrador sighed and then explained what had happened at the White Isle. Cyril simply nodded and listened attentively at what Terrador told him. After Terrador had finished, Cyril stayed silent for a long time, just had Terrador had during his talk with Ignitus.

" So, you are telling me that Ignitus and Spyro are both…technically speaking…alive?" Cyril finally asked. Terrador nodded his head at this statement.

Cyril smiled at this and looked over the sleeping form of Spyro.

"May the Ancestors watch over you, Spyro…may that watch over us all."

* * *

Cynder opened her eyes and sat up in bed. The room was dark and the air was damp with moisture. Her pupils dilated to adjust to the lower amount of light in the room. She blinked slowly and weakly stood up off of the great bed in the center of the room. As her emerald irises scanned the room, she took in her surroundings for the first time. The dormitory, or dorm as she referred to it, was more open than most of the others that were lined up and down the hallway. A small chandelier with four places for candles hung from the ceiling. Its golden color sparkled in the darkness. The bed sat in the center of the room, directly under the chandelier. It was a queen sized bed, with four posts on the corners that rose up towards the low roof. There were two end tables on both sides of the bed, with lamps and drawers ready for use. A small dresser and mirror sat opposite from the bed, up against the wall next to a door that led to the hallway outside. A large desk with a few books piled on top of it sat next to another door that led out into the sunlight. A fireplace sat next to the patio door as well, with three logs inside of it waiting to be ignited. Cynder walked over and took and torched the logs. She smiled as she sat down on her rear end and stared into the golden flames. She sighed softly at the heat that rose from the burning logs and the comfortable sound of the cracking noises made by the illuminated fire. The flames danced across the wood that sat on the stone floor, winning the fiery battle against the underpowered logs.

Cynder sighed again and lay back, searching her thoughts. It had been three days since she had returned with Spyro to the reconstructed temple. Another tear fell down from her emerald eyes, as she remembered the fate of the purple dragon. She had once again cried herself to sleep the night before, unable to get the painful memory out of her mind. She slowly stood on her four paws and walked towards the door that led to the hallway. She opened the creaky wooden entryway and closed it softly behind her. She walked slowly towards the room where she had placed Spyro. The door was closed, so she knocked and a booming voice came from within.

"Come in," the voice said. It was the deep voice of Terrador that had answered.

Cynder quickly entered the room and saw two of three guardians sitting over the form of Spyro. Cyril looked up and gave Cynder a slow nod and then looked back down at Spyro. Terrador rose up out of his chair and offered it to Cynder. She gave a quick and nearly silent "Thank you" and sat down on the leather cushion.

After a few moments had passed, Terrador spoke up. "I have returned from my trip to the White Isle. The chronicler gave me some interesting information regarding our little Savior." He said.

Cynder looked up at the towering green dragon and muttered, "What did the Chronicler tell you? Is there…any hope of bringing him back? Can we do anything at all?"

Terrador took a moment to respond, searching through his thoughts for the right answer.

"Cynder, what I am about to tell might come as a shock, but please hear me out."

Cynder looked at the Earth Guardian with confusion, but slowly nodded. "_What could that mean?_" She pondered in her head.

"Cynder…Ignitus is still alive."

Cynder gasped at this. She had thought for sure that Ignitus has perished in the Ring of Fire trying to make sure Spyro and she could get through the deadly heat and flames.

"WHAT?" Cynder shouted. "I was sure that he had passed on…" Looks of confusion still washed over her face. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

Terrador slowly shook his head and explained, "Well, his spirit still lives. When he died, his spirit went to the White Isle and took over the role of the Chronicler from the dragon that served before him. He is now chronicling the events of this age."

Cynder was dumbfounded. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words were released from her lips.

Terrador continued to speak. "He also told me about what has happened to Spyro. Cynder, I have news that I must share with you."

Cynder came out of her trance at the mention of Spyro. "What? Is he…?"

As is Terrador had read her mind, he smiled and said, "Yes, Cynder. Spyro…he's still alive."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter took a few days. I have been busy and had writer's block for a day. This chapter was going the complete opposite direction that I had wanted it to go, so I deleted most of it and started over. I'm glad with how it turned out. As always, please drop me a review and tell me how I'm doing! I'm most likely going to introduce some OC's in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that.**

**Thanks for reading the first chapter! Stick around for the third, likely coming out this weekend!**

_**Best Regards-UO**_


	3. Chapter 3: Unlocking Secrets

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the continued support. As always, a review and/or a reply is/are GREATLY appreciated. I am still growing as an author, and I need some help with correcting mistakes and making my writing better all around.**

**And, I have a new O/C that I am introducing next chapter. I can't decide on a name, so I put up a poll to help me decide out of eight names. Please help me out by voting in it! Thanks. **

**Without further ado, here's chapter 3.**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 3: Unlocking Secrets**

Spyro's eyes opened very slowly. He yawned and stretched back his wings and legs, shaking them out to remove the feeling of sleep from them. He yawned again after shaking for a few minutes and turned his attention to his surroundings. The environment around him had changed dramatically while he had been sleeping. Instead of having a dark tint on the atmosphere, everything now felt very peaceful and serene. The skies above him were no longer filled with thick darkness; they were filled with magnificent colors and clouds that were in the shape of a dragon. Spyro looked at these cloud formations closely and realized the dragon that they took the shape of…Cynder.

Spyro couldn't but smile at this. He continued to think about the black dragoness. He hadn't been able to get her off of his mind since their embrace after the death of Ignitus. She had approached him without hesitating and put her neck around his. His heart rate had climbed at this action to the point where had thought it was going to burst out of his chest. He had no idea why it had happened. He hadn't been like that around Cynder before….but there was something in her eyes that had made him relax and just forget about of the problems in the world. She was…beautiful. He hadn't thought this way about her before, but after everything that they had been through together, he couldn't stand the thought of being without her.

Coming back out of his trance, Spyro stood up and looked around again. He stood there, mouth agape at the changed surroundings. A bright light was shining out of the northwest with a warm heat that flooded Spyro's body and made a tingling notion spread around his dark purple scales. He smiled again and observed that the platforms around him had changed colors and were now all decorated in a white color, not the dark purplish-black color that had been there before. Spyro stopped smiling and observed this change in environment closely.

Something was seriously wrong about the world that he was in.

A state of panic and confusion descended into Spyro's thoughts once again. He still had no idea where he was and why he was here. His head no longer throbbed, and he could think more clearly now.

"_Where am I? This place looks like much like Convexity…but, that means this must have some sort of connection to the Dark Master, right?" _Spyro thought to himself. "_If this realm is controlled by Malefor, then what do I have to do to get out?" _

"You must triumph against darkness, Spyro." A voice suddenly boomed throughout the realm.

Spyro jumped and whimpered softly at the sudden sound. "Who are you? What do you want? What darkness?" He shouted into the air.

Suddenly, a large white dragoness appeared out of the void. The female dragon was at least twice the size and had a certain...aura about her that was very familiar to Spyro. The dragoness landed softly on the platform and walked towards Spyro. Spyro took a few steps back, mouth agape, at the sudden arrival of the white dragoness. She stopped a few feet away from Spyro and smiled at the smaller purple dragon. The light reflected off of her bright white scales in a way that made Spyro's eyes squint when he looked at the dragoness. Her teeth, horns and claws were well polished and also shimmered in the sunlight. Her golden wings folded behind her back and set in ready position, ready to take off again at a moment's notice. The dragoness' sleek white tail waved to and fro behind her back, dotted by a talon shaped blade on the end.

"If you are done admiring and asking questions, perhaps I can explain myself? The white dragoness said with a smile.

Spyro blushed at this and quickly looked away.

A few moments later, after the warmth had left his cheeks, he turned back to the dragoness and asked, "Who are you? Where am I? What does this all mean? What darkness?"

The dragoness giggled softly at this response. "Of course, where are my manners?" The dragoness bowed her head slowly at the perplexed purple dragon. "My name is Emuleta. I am the Dragon Spirit of Light, Compassion and Dreams."

Spyro was shocked at this revelation. He was in the presence of a…goddess. "Dragon Spirit, you mean one of the Ancestors?" He asked.

Emuleta nodded her head. "That is what most dragons these days call my kind. We were formerly known as the Spirits. Some still refer to us as such."

Spyro bowed his head respectfully at the Spirit. "Spirit Emuleta…it is an honor to stand before you."

Emuleta giggled at this action. "Spyro, I should be saying that to you. You saved the Dragon Realms almost single handedly. Some dragons now consider you a Spirit in your own right."

Spyro blushed again at this compliment. However, he quickly turned back and asked, "But, why are you here?" He looked around and muttered, "Where is here?"

"I am here to help provide guidance through the most difficult trial that you have faced thus far. As to where we truly are, well…this realm does not truly exist in the physical world. We are not, in a sense, anywhere but we are somewhere."

Spyro blinked and cocked his head to the side, unsure of what to say.

Emuleta noticed this, but continued talking. "Spyro, the fragmented plane that you see around you…it's the deepest part of your mind, your spirit. This place is a dream world and is influenced by your emotions and your thoughts."

Spyro was taken aback by this. "You mean…I'm in my head? My brain?"

Emuleta smiled again, which soothed Spyro's conscience. "No, Spyro, we're in your mind. The physical brain is something entirely different. Your brain formulates thoughts, opinions and emotions. Your mind and conscience are where those emotions come from. Your mind is your spirit, in essence."

"That…actually makes a lot of sense." Spyro said with a smile slowly creeping on to his face.

The Light Spirit laughed again. "I'm not surprised to hear that. You always have been a fast learner."

Spyro blushed again. After a few moments he asked, "So, you've been watching me? For how long?"

"Since the day you were born." Emuleta explained with a smile. "The Spirits, all of us, developed an interest in you as soon as you arrived in the Realms. It's not every day a Purple Dragon is born! The Spirits were conflicted over how to handle you and your destiny. Some of the darker ones thought we should leave you alone, and let you fall into evil yourself, just like so many purple dragons had done before you. However, most of us agreed that we should watch over and guide you as best as we could to achieve your destiny."

"If you are just watching over me, then why are you here, Emuleta?" Spyro asked.

Emuleta looked away from Spyro and into the horizon. She didn't look at Spyro, but said, "To protect you and your destiny against the darkness that seeks to destroy it."

"What is my destiny?" Spyro asked, interrupting the Spirit.

"That is up for you to decide now. That is the point of a dragon's free will. If you do not act, however, the darkness that clouds your mind will be your final say on what happened to this world. You will lose your free will and your life as you know it." Emuleta said quickly.

"There it is again, the darkness you keep talking about…what is it? What do you mean '…your life will be destroyed…'?" Spyro asked.

Emuleta stopped looking at the horizon and looked back at Spyro. "Do you remember the Dark Spyro that took over your thoughts and your body during the Night of Eternal Darkness and after the death of Ignitus?"

Spyro nodded at the question and continued to listen.

"After the imprisonment of Malefor, some of his dark essence escaped his mind and was hurled at the only two living things in the immediate area."

Spyro's eyes grew wide. "…Cynder..."

"Yes, Spyro. She has been tainted by the dark forces; perhaps even more so than you. She may be put into the same state that you are currently in sometime in the future; the Spirits can't be sure at the current time. The darkness had clouded our vision for many years. Only now are our abilities beginning to recover."

Spyro wasn't listening to the Spirit. He had frozen in place, draped in a state of shock and anger. He continued to repeat what Emuleta had just told him. It was not only his mind that was clouded in darkness…Cynder was going to have the same effect, and it was going to happen, very soon.

"Is there anything I can do to help her? Where is she?" Spyro asked, with his amethyst eyes full with emotion.

Emuleta was slightly taken aback by this sudden outburst of questions, but she remained calm and collected as she said, "Cynder is currently resting in the Dragon Temple, Spyro; but…that is about to change."

* * *

Cynder stared at Terrador, emotion filling her eyes. "He's actually alive? Spyro…he's not dead?" She shouted at the Master Guardian.

Terrador nodded his head.

Cynder was overjoyed. She ran up ad embraced Terrador. "Thank the Ancestors! He's alright…he's alright."

Terrador smiled and shook his head. "Cynder, you've never shown this much emotion over the safety of Spyro before. I'm glad to see that you care so much now about your fellow dragons, Spyro in particular."

Cynder blushed and turned away. "Spyro and I have been through a lot together, I don't know what I'd do without him."

Terrador and Cyril both looked at each other, and smiled. They both knew what this type of emotion meant coming from a young dragoness, but they weren't going to prod her any further.

Cyril nodded at Terrador who nodded back. An unspoken understanding passed between them. They had to tell her the rest of the story.

Cyril was the first to speak up. "Cynder, there is more to it than that. Spyro is not dead, but in a state of sleep called the 'Eternal Slumber'."

Cynder looked at the ice guardian closely. "Eternal? Doesn't that mean forever?"

"Yes, but-"

Cynder interrupted Cyril with a quick whimper. "You mean, he's still lost forever? I'll never see him again?"

Cyril shook his head. "No, young dragon, you will see him again. He has been put into this state because of over exhaustion from the battle with Malefor. He also is fighting some sort of dark energy that is seeking to control his thoughts, emotions and actions."

Cynder blinked and said quickly, "Dark energy? Do you mean energy from Malefor, or his Dark Spyro form?"

Cyril shook his head. "Neither of us can be sure at the current time, Cynder. The Chronicler only gave us limited information. We don't know what he is fighting and if he's winning or not. However, we do know that if he loses…Spyro could lose his mind forever."

Cynder looked over the slumbering form of Spyro and said softly, "Hang in there, Spyro."

Suddenly, Cynder became quite light headed. She simply shook off the pain and turned back to Terrador. "Since Spyro is in this state because of the battle with Malefor, doesn't that mean that I could put into the same state as well? I was impacted even more by the dark forces than he was. I was controlled by the Dark Master for many years, and it only took a small amount of prodding to make me back turn into that dark form before we defeated him."

Cynder felt a small tear leave her eye. She had been easily discouraged by Malefor before the fight with the dark dragon and his influence had easily turned her into a construct of dark energy. She had attacked Spyro in this form….just as she had when she had three years before that. She felt horrible shame, but she knew that Spyro had forgiven her. She smiled at this, but continued to weep openly. Her head began to hurt even more as well.

Terrador moved to the Black Dragoness' side and draped a wing over her in a fatherly sort of way. She stopped crying, looked up at the Master Guardian and mouthed the words "Thank you."

Cynder began to sway to one side and her eyes shut, her eyes drifting out into darkness.

Terrador caught her before she fell. "Cynder, are you alright? He said with a worried look on his face.

Cynder opened her eyes and smiled. "I'm fine….just a bit light headed, Terrador. I've felt this way ever since we returned from the fight with Malefor."

Cyril got up and stood at the dragoness' side. "You should go and lay back down Cynder. Your scrapes and bruises that you suffered on the flight back here from the volcano still have not fully recovered."

Cynder nodded and she began walking down the hallway, back towards her newly claimed dormitory. She felt her paws tumble out from under her, but Terrador had followed hertot of the room and caught her. Her then lifted her onto his back and carried the black dragoness the rest of the way down the hallway to her room and put her into her bed.

After the Earth Guardian have a few moments for the black dragoness to settle down he spoke up and asked, "Cynder, do you have a feeling of lightheadedness or an uncomfortable feeling in your head?"

Cynder thought for a moment as she lied on her bed and then nodded very slowly.

Terrador frowned at this. "Ignitus told me something before I left the Isle that I must share with you before you drift off to sleep." He said quickly. "Cynder, Ignitus opened your book as well while I was the White Isle. It showed you in the same position as Spyro, but you were at his side and you both were bearing your claws to a large…shadow of some sort. Have you had any visions or dreams regarding a spirit or shadow that is haunting you?"

Cynder shook her head. She had seen darkness every time she had closed her eyes, but there was never any indication that there was a creature in her eyes during those quick moments.

Terrador frowned again. "Well, Cynder, either way, you might fall into the same position as Spyro. You have been tainted by the dark forces as well, perhaps even more so than Spyro. If you are dragged into the same state that Spyro is in, you have to fight against it. Find a way to defeat the darkness in your head and piece yourself back together. That is the only way that you finally and truly be free from the Dark Master's influence. You must fight, are you will lose everything you hold dear." He said, still frowning.

Cynder felt a slight feeling of butterflies fill up in her heart. She wasn't sure if this was because of the feeling of nervousness that had just hit her, or if she was worrying for the Savior of the Realms. (Spyro)

Cynder nodded and asked, "Will I be able to see Spyro again?"

Terrador bit his lip and looked out the door. "We are unsure. If you and Spyro end up in the same realm where his mind is now, then you might get to see him again. If you end up in different dream realms, then you will have to face the challenges that lie ahead of you alone. Only the Spirits know where you will end up." Terrador looked back to the young dragoness with a slight look of sadness on his face. "Either way, you are a strong dragoness, Cynder; perhaps the strongest willed ever. I think that if you can break away from the rule of the Dark Master, who says who can't clear that darkness in your mind? You are strong Cynder. Use your head and go where your heart tells you to go, and you will see Spyro again."

Cynder blushed and smiled at these words from the Earth Guardian. "Thank you for the kind words, Terrador, I don't know what we would do without you."

Terrador smiled and nodded at the young dragoness. "If you ever need help or if you think that you have lost your way, do not forget my words; they will help you through the darkest times of your life."

Cynder smiled and nodded again. "Thank you, Terrador. I'm going to try to get some sleep now my head…is…oooh."

Cynder finally felt the pain in her head take over her body and she passed out onto the bed, eyes closed shut.

Terrador, eyes wide with shock quickly moved to the side of the bed. "Cynder, are you alright? Cynder?"

The young dragoness did not move.

She had entered the state of Eternal Slumber.

* * *

**A/N: A big 'Thank you" goes out to those of you that been sending me PMs and other reviews to me. Special thanks go out to Dragon of Night and Darkfire Dragon28 for giving me inspiration through their PMs and own stories to continue on with this story. I will try to get up another chapter by the end of this week, but I am currently in the process of moving as well as taking end of the year exams. Thanks again for the continued support. Don't forget to R&R. **

_**Best Regards-UO**_

**Update: 5/14/2013- Hey, guys. Sorry that this chapter is taking longer than the other two that I've released, but I am currently in the process of moving and I haven't had literally any time to type since Sunday. There is a pretty good chance that I might not be able to get this chapter out for quite a while. I apologize for this, but the next chapter will most likely be a major plot point and might be the introduction of my next O/C, Richter. Thanks for your patience! Also,**** I have a new O/C that I am introducing next chapter. I can't decide on a name, so I put up a poll to help me decide out of eight names. Please help me out by voting in it! Thanks. **


	4. Chapter 4: New Arrivals

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 4: New Arrivals**

The black dragoness still wasn't moving. Terrador had tried time after time to get her awake again, but it was no use. The Earth Guardian was in shock, but he was fairly certain that he knew what had happened. Cynder was now in the state of Eternal Slumber, just like Spyro had been for days now. This could only mean one thing; she was now fighting for her life. Terrador knew the there was nothing that he could do to help the young dragoness, besides making sure that she was comfortable while she fought the ever expanding darkness trapped inside of her mind. He adjusted the pillows on the bed and pulled a blanket over her. The Master Guardian sighed. There was nothing more he could do. The rest was up to Cynder and Spyro. He just had to make sure that they were protected and comfortable.

Terrador sighed again and got up from the bed. He walked towards the door, pausing once to look at Cynder before he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door softly behind him. He walked the short distance down the hallway and peered into Spyro's room. Sure enough, the Savior of the Realms wasn't moving either.

Terrador shook his head and thought, "_I hope the Ancestors are kind enough to place them in the same dream world. If not…may the Spirits watch over us all."_

He closed Spyro's door lightly and continued down the hallway towards the entrance to the Guardian's Chambers and the Pool of Visions. Candle and torch light lit the way through the dim hallways. Terrador looked out a window on the side of the hallway, and was surprised to see that the sky was entirely black. It had already fallen to night time, despite the short day that the Earth Guardian had been through. He continued to walk down the hallway, the stone floor making a crumbling sound under his weight. The nights were cool here at the temple, but The Earth Guardian did not seem the least bit phased by the temperature. He had grown up in the cold temperatures of the northern plains, specifically around the settlement of Shattered Vale.

He hailed from a small family, having only his parents and his sister for company. Both of his parents, Ormarr and Lindra, as well as his sister, Belinda, had been Earth Dragons themselves. He had shown combat prowess from a young age and he was a brilliant tactician. Terrador showed interest in military history in the academy and had risen up to join the Vale's guard force; eventually rising to the rank of captain of the entire corps by the age of 20. He was the youngest leader that the corps had ever had, but he had served just as well as any other captain before him. He had prevented many raids from the now-extinct Apes and dropped the crime rate of the Vale to the lowest it had ever been in the city. This sense of military prowess and wisdom eventually caught the eye of the Guardians. He was offered a chance to train to be a guardian under the Earth Guardian at the time, Magnitude, at the young age of 25. He had accepted and had left his past life behind, to start anew in the Dragon Temple. For another 25 years he had trained under Magnitude until the Guardian's death. He had then taken his mentor's position and became the new Earth Guardian. He was, by about 6 years, the youngest Guardian of the three current Guardians, being only 64 this year. Volteer was 70 and Cyril was 73 years of age. Despite the 39 years that he spent away from the Vale, he still missed his past life there. He hadn't seen any of his family or friends for many years, not since he had been appointed to the position of Earth Guardian. He didn't know where they where they had went after his leave of absence from Shattered Vale.

Three years earlier, Terrador had been sent there to warn the settlement of the impending Night of Eternal Darkness by Ignitus. The memory of the visit was…unpleasant for the Earth Guardian. He felt a tear drop from his eye, but he quickly shook the memory out his head, leaving to deal with it for another time.

"_I can't think about…I refuse to remember it!_" He shouted to himself.

The Master Guardian had dropped his militant attitude somewhat since taking over as the head of the Guardians. He was expected to be an effective tactician and leader during times of war, but…the Realms were more peaceful now than they had ever been, even before the rise of Malefor. He was still an old captain at heart, but the current situation demanded that he be a diplomat and not a soldier.

The Master Guardian closed his eyes and shook his head, remembering all of the good and bad times that he had had over the past 49 years as a trainee and then a Guardian himself. However, now was not the time for being nostalgic. He quickly opened his eyes and rushed the rest of the way down the hall to the Guardians' chambers, hoping to catch Volteer and Cyril for their nightly meeting before they all went off to sleep.

"_Business as usual_."He thought to himself.

But, little did the Earth Guardian know, nothing was as it seemed…

* * *

A young green dragon approached a vast cityscape laid in front of him. He gasped, his bright blue eyes glowing with surprise and anticipation at the lit-up skyline in the distance. The great metropolis of Warfang was only few more miles away. The city had seen the worst of what the Dragon Realms had to offer, and yet there it was, proud and true, standing up against the test of time. The large spires of the city jutted out into the night sky, glowing with torch-light from their countless windows and balconies. The moles had truly created a marvel of engineering; no other city in the Realms even came close to the rising skyline of Warfang. Some of the dragons back home had joked that the streets were "paved with gold" and that every dragon in the city wore robes marked with "endless jewels and made with the finest silk that the Realms had to offer." The young dragon chuckled at this. Obviously the city had prestige, it was the new home of the Guardians, after all, but it still had the same real problems just like everywhere else in the Realms.

Richter shook his head and chuckled a bit more before turning his attention back to the task at hand. He continued to fly as fast as he could towards the huge metropolis in front of him. His black wings continued to flap at an abnormal pace than what he was used to. Richter was a fast flyer, perhaps THE fastest from his village, but he had never flown this fast into a tailwind before. His forest green colored scales stood on their ends due to the bitter cold of the night time air around him. His white claws had been sharpened before he had left the village, just in case. The two white horns that dotted his head had been sharpened as well, but they were mostly useless as they trailed behind his head in a sort of curved L-shape. His fin-like tail blade wagged around behind him like a lost puppy following its master.

Richter was used to combat. He was a three year veteran of the of guard force of his tiny village, Draxis. The village had a tiny population of around fifty-six dragons, moles, cheetahs and non-feral wolves. The dragons of the village, fourteen in all, were all trained veterans of combat, seeking to defend their homes against the constant feral wolf raid that the settlement was now suffering on a weekly basis. Lately, the raids had gotten worse and worse and the leader of the settlement and the captain of the guard, a fire dragon named Peron, had finally caved in and had let one dragon go to the city of Warfang to ask for help. Despite his young age of only 16 years, Richter was a natural leader and had already risen to the rank of second-in-command to Peron. Many thought that this was an act of favoritism, Richter was Peron's son, after all, but he was an obvious choice to replace Peron one day as captain himself. He was a skilled Earth Dragon in combat, mastering the combat skills of the element at a very young age. The young dragonesses of Draxis had swooned over him for a very long time, but he had yet to announce any sort of interest in a specific one. Richter was a very kind and generous soul, but he was distant from some of the other dragons in Draxis due to his overzealous attitude and the fact that he was always focused on his duties to the settlement.

Richter decided to call it quits for the night. He was exhausted. He had been flying for twelve hours, with his flight in total lasting around twenty-seven hours. He had to rest and recharge for the morning. Approaching a city in the night time was a bad idea; the sentries around the city were likely to attack. He looked like a wyvern from far away, and he had no documented proof that he was a military official himself. The green dragon slowly lowered his black wings to the ground and he landed, with perfect form.

During his flight, he had spotted a cave off to the right side of his path and he decided to stay there for the night. He slowly approached the cave, inch by inch. His father had taught him to always take things slowly, especially when entering a new area.

As he inched further into the cave, he noticed a flickering light further inside the cave. A campfire was directly ahead of him, around a corner in the cave. Campfires meant one of two things, friend or…enemies. Richter peered around the corner and observed the scene stretched out in front of his eyes.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were cheetahs. Most cheetahs were friendly to dragons, and the cheetahs around the fire seemed friendly enough. Most had yellow-spotted fur, which meant they hailed from the nearby Valley of Avalar. From experience, Richter knew the Avalarian sign for 'peace, my brothers'. He issued a low whistle from his maw, followed by a large shrill that filled the top of his lungs with hot air.

The cheetahs stopped conversing and looked towards the entrance to the cave. None of the cheetahs moved a muscle towards their weapons.

Richter quickly entered the chamber and came into the light of the campfire. He bowed his head and said, "Greetings, Warriors of Avalar."

One of the cheetahs that had a red cloak draped over his head approached the green dragon and stopped about six feet short of where the green dragon stood.

The hooded cheetah finally spoke after a few moments of absolute silence. "Who comes to the sound of light rain?" He asked with a stoic tone.

"Those with innocence and truth in their hearts, my brother." Richter said. It was an old Avalarian code to identify friend from foe. Richter had traveled quite extensively, and knew many of the customs that the Avalarian people used in combat.

The cheetah smiled and slowly lowered the hood from his face. Emerald eyes met the green dragon and peered into his complexion.

"Greetings, young dragon. I am known as Hunter of Avalar. Welcome."

Richter's head poked up at this name. "THE Hunter of Avalar? The brave cheetah who hunted for three years to find Spyro, the Purple Dragon? It is an honor to stand before you, Hunter. I am known as Richter of Draxis." He bowed his head once again, more so out of respect than tradition.

Hunter approached the dragon and put his hand on his shoulder. "Please, my young dragon. You don't need to resort to flattery. We are all friends of your kind here. Isn't that right, my brothers?"

The other cheetahs in the cave either raised mugs that they had in their heads or just their paws and yelled, "Here, here." in complete unison.

Hunter smiled and turned back to the green dragon. "Now, young dragon, why are you out here in the middle of the wilderness? Warfang is only an hour's flight from here."

Richter hung his head in shame. "I tried to make it to the city from Draxis is less than two days, but I am exhausted from the long trip. I needed a place to rest for the evening, and I spotted this cave along my flight path to the city. I plan on leaving as soon as the sun begins its journey across the cosmos. I do not wish to place a burden on you or your clan-"

"Nonsense. You are no such burden. It would be our pleasure to accommodate you here. We are travelers ourselves, headed for the same destination that you are, Warfang." Hunter said with a smile. "Speaking of which, why are you going to the dragon city? Draxis is a long flight from Warfang."

"My village seeks help against the raids that are currently being held against our village. Feral wolves attack every night during the same hour of the same day each week. We have been able to protect our village thus far, but many of my kin have been wounded or killed from the wolves or over exhaustion. Our guard captain, who is my father, sent me to Warfang to request any forces that the Guardians can spare to aid in the defense of our home. Maybe with an increased amount of soldiers, we can put an end to the nightmare that plagues my home."

Hunter gently stroked his chin, pondering what the green dragon had told him. When he finally spoke he said, "I'm sure the Guardians would be willing to lend some forces to help defend your village, but do not expect very many. The city has been on guard ever since the attack by Malefor's forces a few weeks ago. The moles are still repairing the damage."

"Malefor? Has he been defeated?" Richter asked.

"Yes, by Spyro and Cynder. They left the city a few weeks ago and went to battle Malefor and end the Great Cleansing before it could happen. They have obviously succeeded, but when I was there last they hadn't returned. I'm returning there now to conduct trade and diplomacy with the Guardians for the Cheetahs of Avalar."

"Cynder? The Terror of the Skies helped defeat Malefor?"

"Yes. You don't think poorly of her, do you?"

Richter was taken aback by the answer and the question that Hunter had just posed to him. Cynder and her forces had never attacked Draxis, but he had stories of the brutality and malice she had used towards the other less fortunate dragon settlements to the north of Draxis' walls. He had never thought that Cynder could turn to the side of good after all that she had done.

"I'm surprised, is all. I wasn't expecting to hear that the Dark Master's top lieutenant is now aiding the side of good. She never attacked Draxis, but I've heard the stories…" Richter said.

"That is a fair judgment. I did not trust her at first either, but Ignitus, the Fire Guardian did, and I learned to appreciate her for who she has become; not the dragon that she used to be. Besides, you find that she is somewhat…smaller now." Hunter said with a chuckle.

Richter opened his maw to ask what Hunter had meant by that comment, but he quickly closed it again. It could wait for another time. "At any rate, thank you for your hospitality, Hunter of Avalar. It is an honor to be among such heroes like you and your clan." Richter bowed respectfully.

Hunter smiled and returned the favor. "It is our honor to meet a dragon such as you, with passion and devotion burning in your heart."

Richter smiled and nodded his head, not saying a word. No more had to be said. He took up a place around the fire, sitting on a comfortable rock formation and listened quietly to the cheetahs' conversations.

Most of the cheetahs talked about the trip that they had endured so far to get here. Traveling on foot was much harder than traveling through the air, but the distance from Avalar to Warfang was shorter than the distance from Draxis. The warriors had endured a week long journey to arrive at the city. They had fought off bears, wolves and other feral wildlife. They had lived off of the land, bringing in game, fish and wild fruit to eat. They hadn't even brought provisions with them from their village. Richter listened, in awe of these natural warriors. The cheetah race was a proud one, a once nomadic race of hunter-gatherers. The cheetahs had evolved to be bipedal, unlike the tetra pedaled dragon race. They were quick, agile and extremely intelligent. They were a very isolationist and individualistic society, and some cheetahs were distrustful of outsiders as a result. However, many cheetahs welcomed foreign peoples like the dragons and their trade with open arms. The Cheetahs of Avalar were a valuable military ally and trade partner of Warfang. The race was truly extraordinary.

All of a sudden, a voice called to Richter, bringing him back to reality. "Richter, was it?"

Richter turned to his left and saw one of the cheetahs looking at him. "It is an honor meeting a young dragon like yourself." The cheetahs all nodded at this, except for Hunter, who had already fallen asleep on a rock on the other side of the cave. "Where do you hail from, young one?"

"The village of Draxis, to the southwest of here. We were untouched by the war with the Dark Master, but we have suffered many raids from feral wolves lately." Richter replied.

The cheetah stuck a paw out and nodded at the green dragon. "If Hunter allows us, I'm sure we could help defend your village. Nice meeting you, either way, Richter." The cheetah bowed slowly. "I am known as Meadow of Avalar; I am our village's healer."

Richter nodded by cocking his head to one side and bowing it. He took the paw within his own and the two shook paws. "The pleasure is all mine, Meadow of Avalar. If you ever need any assistance with medical treatment, do not hesitate to ask. I am trained in the medical arts as well." This was true. Richter was one of Draxis' junior field medics, serving under the village's main doctor. The treatments that he gave with medicine and surgery were nothing short of remarkable.

Meadow smiled at this and bowed again, out of gratitude. He slowly sat back down and fell back, trying to catch some shut-eye himself.

Two of the other cheetahs had already fallen asleep as well, which left Richter and two remaining warriors. One of the warriors nodded his head at the other and stood up. He slowly walked towards the entrance to the cavern. It was his turn to stand watch. Richter watched the figure slowly walk out of his sight and then he turned his attention back to the remaining cheetah. He chuckled to find the cheetah draped over the back of another stone, like a sheet draped over a bed. The clan was dead tired. They had had a long journey, and were finally about to reach their destination.

Richter was coming to the end of his trip to Warfang as well, but his journey was far from over.

* * *

Spyro looked up and the tall white dragoness that still floated in front of him. "What can we do? She's already been taken by the Dark Master once…what is going to stop him from doing it again?" He asked.

"Your influence, Spyro." Emuleta replied.

Spyro narrowed his eyes at the Light Spirit, expecting an explanation.

Not getting a reply, Emuleta continued. "Think about it, Spyro. When Cynder turned her back on you after Malefor's influence drew her into the darkness once more, who stopped her and returned her back to normal self?"

"I did." Spyro replied, with a blush spreading on his cheeks.

"Who stopped her from being taken control of once again when she was kidnapped by Gaul?" Emuleta asked, giggling softly to herself.

"I did." Spyro said, blushing even more and starting to chuckle himself.

"Spyro, the bond that you and Cynder share is irreplaceable. You were destined to be bound together with the green chain, and yet even after it had been disconnected, Cynder remained at your side, refusing to leave. Your bond is more than friendship, Spyro. It goes much deeper than that. But…the rest is up for you to discover. "I'm afraid that I must leave you now." The Spirit's body began to show signs of fading. Light particles drifted off of Emuleta and into the air, vanishing without a trace.

"Wait, Emuleta...I have so many questions!" Spyro shouted at the now vanishing Spirit. "But…where should I go? What do I have to do?"

Emuleta smiled as the last particles of her body disappeared into the air. "Do as you have always done…follow your heart."

"Goodbye Spyro, we will meet again."

And with a bright flash, the Spirit was gone.

Spyro sighed and turned around to face the light void that now filled his surroundings. He was trapped in his mind, in some sort of comatose-type state, with no apparent way of getting out. He had no guidance and no hope of finding his way out.

"_Follow my heart? Following my heart last time led me to Malefor and that started this whole mess._" Spyro shook his head and walked down the path of hovering platforms, determined to get to the bottom of what was going on what he had to do to get himself out of this realm that he was in. He darted his amethyst eyes around and looked for anything that seemed familiar.

"_Follow my heart…_" He thought again. Spyro continued down the slope of platforms that stood in front of him. He then spotted something off in the distance.

There was a tiny gray speck resting on another platform, about a mile away from where Spyro was standing. Spyro narrowed his eyes, but it was too small to make out from this far away. He raised his wings above his body and soared into the air.

"_My heart…_" He thought again. As the gray speck got larger and larger as the purple dragon approached, he began to make out what it actually was. The platform around the structure was massive; it looked almost as large as the Grotto back in the old Dragon Temple. The structure in the middle looked like some sort of portal; it was radiating with a purple energy that looked much like the Convexity blasts that Spyro and Cynder had used to defeat Malefor. The portal-like object was large, it stood over forty feet tall and looked too much like the portal in the Realm of convexity that Cynder had tried to use to let the Dark Master escape from the Dark Realms. There was something…familiar about it, besides the similar structure that drew Spyro towards it.

He landed in the middle of the large platform, about forty yards away from the portal, and began to approach the awe-inspiring structure. Spyro snaked across the ground, walking as slowly as possible. He reached the edge of the portal and walked up the steps leading to the entry way to another Realm. The purple dragon quickly stopped at the mouth of the portal and peered in; hoping to see what was on the other side. The vision from the opposite end of the portal made the Savior of the Realms gasp in surprise.

A black dragoness with a magenta underbelly and magenta membranes below her black wings was lying there, unmoving.

Cynder.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter took a few days longer than expected…I've been really busy with finals and other testing-related stuff at school, and I barely had enough to time to type this as is. I must say, I'm extremely surprised at the amount of support through reviews and PMs that I've gotten over the past week. Thank you all so much for your continued support! **

**Special thanks in particular to Dragon of Night for his peer-reviewing and ideas for this chapter. Without his help, this chapter might've taken even longer than it already did.**

**Another big thanks goes out to Airchi for Beta reading this chapter for me! Thanks for correcting all for the errors that I make while typing this. XD**

**One more goes out to Darkness Oversoul for her kind words and inspiration for the plot elements in this story. Reviewers like her keep me motivated! **

**Overall, thank you for reading Chapter 4 of the Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber. Stay tuned for Chapter 5!**

**And, as always, reviews and PMs are greatly appreciated. **

_**Best regards. –Unit Omicron **_


	5. Chapter 5: Reunions and Revelations

**A/N: Quick request here, I'm looking for an artist to draw a cover for me...I'm not an artist ****myself and I think a cover image would add a more realistic image of the book. If you're interested, please PM me. Thanks.**

**Without further ado, here's Chapter 5. **

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 5: Reunions and Revelations**

"Run, Spyro!" Cynder shouted.

"I can't! I'm stuck!" Spyro shouted back. His leg had become entangled with debris on the ground.

Cynder rushed back and butted his back with her head, trying to get him to fall over and remove his paw from the debris.

"He's getting closer!" Spyro shouted. He was paralyzed with fear, staring at the evil creatures that were chasing after the two young dragons.

"Don't worry; I've got you, Spyro! Just hang on…!" Cynder said as she pushed him free from the rubble that had caught his paw. There were many other slabs of debris and rubble all around the two dragons. They continued to run through the destroyed remains of the former city that stood around them. The metropolis had been swiftly and utterly destroyed by the two dark magic users that were now chasing Spyro and Cynder around the ruins. Smoke could be seen for miles in every direction, and many corpses of moles, cheetahs, wolves, dragons and other creatures littered the streets. Black clouds covered the sky, day and night. An eerie glow emanated from the destroyed remains of buildings all around the two young dragons. A large temple that sat on a hill in the city had been completely razed to the ground. Spyro and Cynder were the only survivors from the attack.

Warfang was no more.

Both of the young dragons were exhausted, they couldn't fight or even run away for much longer, they had to lose these creatures, and quickly. Both of the dragons darted around a street corner and ducked into a nearby alley. The two dark spirits turned around the corner and gave chase through the alley. Utilizing her quick thinking, Cynder took and Spyro under her wing and activated her shadow powers. Both dragons disappeared into the ground beneath them. Cynder prayed to the Ancestors for protection against the darkness.

The dark spirits turned into the alley and came to a halt. They sniffed the air and looked around, hoping to notice any sign of the purple dragon and black dragoness. Spyro and Cynder kept quiet, closing their mouths to hide the sound of their sobbing and panting from the events of the day. They had been chased by the dark spirits around the city for six hours. Every time that had tried to hide, the spirits had just caught them again and they had to continue running. Running away…it wasn't Cynder's first instinct. She wanted to stay and fight, defend herself. However, Spyro had insisted that they should save their energy. They were drained enough as it was.

All of a sudden one of the black shadows stepped over the form of Cynder's shadow and growled. He roared and Cynder released her hold on Spyro. Both dragons were thrown upwards, back onto the surface. Cynder's powers were drained…she couldn't run anymore. She had to fight. She had to defend Spyro.

The shadow growled again and flung itself at Cynder. She dodged easily and swung her own claws at the sinister spirit. She connected with the shadow, but it didn't have any effect. Her claws went right through the spirit's body. The shadow turned back around and released a quick attack of poison fire at Cynder. Cynder stepped out-of-the-way, but she wasn't fast enough. The fire hit her thigh and melted the scales away that covered the body underneath. She howled in pain as the nerves in her thigh were destroyed. She looked back and saw blood running down the side of her leg.

Cynder turned her attention back to the form in front of her. She lowered her head and growled at the shadow. This was the first time that had been able to get a better look at the spirit. It looked…remarkably familiar. It was in the form of a dragon, that much was certain. Six white, glowing horns dotted its head, and the form had black scales with tattoo-like patterns running along its forehead. Its tail slivered across the ground and ended in a…scythe-like blade…

"No…no...no…NO!" Cynder whimpered.

The dark dragon spirit standing in front of her wasn't just any dark dragon.

It was Cynder.

"NO! I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" She shouted at the dark spirit.

A grin crossed over the Dark Cynder's face. It growled again and flung itself at Cynder once again. She dodged easily this time and sent a poison shot of her own flying at the Dark Cynder. She quickly glanced over to Spyro. He was baring his teeth at the over dark form. This dark force looked exactly like…Spyro. The Dark Spyro launched a fireball, and Spyro himself did the same. An inferno hit in the center, igniting everything within ten meters. Spyro looked over at Cynder. They both met each other's eyes. A sudden understanding washed over both dragons.

This could be their last battle together.

Suddenly, Cynder was hit in the abdomen by a massive force. She was flung over and she violently landed against a wall with a loud thud that echoed through the alley. Cynder quickly shook it off and breathed a shadow fire at where the Dark Cynder had just been standing. But, the dark spirit was no longer in the same place that it had just been.

"Oh, no."

A sharp pain seared through Cynder's backside as Dark Cynder's claws connected with more of normal Cynder's scales, sending shockwaves of pain through her nervous system. Blood began to trickle out of the wound and spilled onto the ground below. Cynder's strength was failing. She grimaced and stood back up as she launched a powerful cyclone. The cyclone connected and sent the Dark Spirit flying backwards into the same wall that Cynder had hit. The Dark Spirit growled in pain, but it still looked confident and strong. A slight throbbing had begun to build itself up in Cynder's head. She shook the pain off and launched another cyclone at the Dark Cynder. The spirit was hit again and it hit the wall again, this time with even more force than the last. The spirit hit the wall and landed on the ground with a loud _smack_ noise. It whimpered in pain and slowly tried to return to its feet. However, it fell back to the ground and passed out. The Dark Cynder was unconscious. Cynder quickly turned back to Spyro. Her maw then slowly dropped and she tensed up, paralyzed with shock.

Spyro's form was burned and bleeding badly. Singe marks, small stones and other wounds were present throughout his body. He amethyst eyes hung open and showed no signs of life, as did his maw.

"SPYRO!" Cynder shouted at the lifeless form of Spyro.

The form of the Dark Spyro stood over the crumpled form of Spyro, grinning from ear to ear with delight over the form below him. He turned his attention to Cynder, and he growled with satisfaction. He charged up a fireball and sent it hurtling at Cynder. She sidestepped the blast and fired a blast of shadow fire, which barely missed the Dark Spyro's right thigh. Cynder could feel anger building up inside of her. This…thing had just killed Spyro…her friend…he was dead…

"No…no...NO! NOT AGAIN! I'LL KILL YOU!" Cynder shouted at the form of the Dark Spyro. This only made the spirit grin even wider.

All of Cynder's built-up and suppressed emotions sprung into her head. Anger, sadness, guilt, love, aggression, hate and rage all filled her mind at once. Suddenly, she felt her scales begin to fade into darkness. Her eyes changed from their natural emerald color to glow an unnatural white color. She began to radiate with dark energy. She had turned into the dark spirit that had tried to face Spyro in battle due to Malefor's poisonous influence.

Cynder felt a familiar energy build up within her throat. She closed her eyes and focused all of her emotion into the energy. She opened her maw and released the powerful energy onto the Dark Spyro.

It was a Convexity blast, but it was the most powerful force ever generated by the black dragoness.

The blast connected with the Dark Spyro and it screamed out in pain. The blast melted away its skin and flesh. The form disintegrated before Cynder's very eyes, and turned into a pile of ash. Dark Spyro ceased to exist.

Cynder's scales returned to their natural black, but it didn't make a difference. Cynder was officially drained of all of her power.

She collapsed to the ground, panting and breathing heavily. Through thick smoke in her eyes, she saw the motionless form of Spyro.

Tears formed in her eyes as her emerald eyes began to falter. They struggled for a moment and then closed shut. The shaking in Cynder's body ceased. Her body remained still.

A quiet gust of wind blew through the lifeless ruins of Warfang. Everything was silent and still. No movement of any creatures stirred the lifeless city.

That is…except for one.

"Cynder! CYNDER!"

* * *

"CYNDER! Please…wake up! Wake up! Please, don't leave me…you have to wake up!"

Cynder's eyes opened abruptly. She quickly stood up and looked around. The ruins of Warfang were gone. There was no rubble, no dark spirits and no corpses. She was surrounded by light skies and a friendly atmosphere. The bright blue sky was filled with familiar clouds and a light breeze blew through the area. The area was…peaceful to young dragoness. She was resting on a large platform that seemed to be hovering in the air, propelled by magic unknown to Cynder.

"Cynder!" The voice shouted again.

She turned to her left to find the source of the voice. She gasped at the sight of a large structure that stood before her. The structure was in the shape of a domed temple, but it was open and had a purple colored energy coursing from it. The structure looked just like the portal that the Dark Master had tried to enter through in the Realm of Convexity.

The only thing was…there was someone on the other side of the portal-like structure, shouting at her.

"Cynder! You're alive! Thank you, Emuleta…" The figure exclaimed from the other side of the portal.

Cynder trotted slowly towards the portal to get a closer look at the figure on the other side. She inched up the stairs leading to the portal itself and she peered into the inter-dimensional teleportation device, hoping to see what was on the other side.

She yelped in surprise when a figure appeared on the other side that was staring directly into her eyes.

"Cynder…" said the familiar voice. The figure, who was definitely a dragon, on the other side of the portal smiled and Cynder could notice tears in its eyes. The eyes…Cynder knew those eyes. They were the bright color of purple amethysts. Only one dragon had those eyes.

"Spyro…" Cynder said with a smile.

The dragon that had left her in the forests outside of Avalar was alive. His eyes gazed into hers, not wavering or faltering. He smiled even brighter and began to cry. Cynder broke down as well, tears quickly forming in her eyes. The dragon that she not-so-secretly loved was back, and he was stronger than ever.

"Cynder…you made it. I thought that I had lost you after…everything." He chuckled softly and continued to smile.

"Spyro…" Cynder said as she inched forward, trying to reach Spyro on the other side of the portal.

"Wait, Cynder!" Spyro shouted at her before she could reach the portal. This made Cynder stop dead in her tracks and raise an eyebrow at Spyro.

"What? Why can't I come see you?" Cynder asked, perplexed.

Spyro hung his head in misery. "Because…if you leave your realm, then you will cause a temporal displacement event. You would vanish from existence, or the darkness that is clouding our minds will take your body, soul and mind...and I'll never see you again…" Spyro looked back up to Cynder, his eyes pleading for her to stay with him.

Cynder smiled at the purple dragon and said, "I'll never leave you. Now I have you to thank for saving my life…again."

Cynder could see that Spyro had blushed at this, even through the distorted image of the portal. "Well…I…uh…" He stammered and continued blushing.

Cynder giggled at this display of emotion from Spyro. She wasn't expecting Spyro to get emotional over her survival from her injuries.

Spyro stopped blushing and looked back at Cynder. "How is everyone? The Guardians, Hunter, Sparx?" He asked.

"Ignitus...there's something you should know, Spyro. Do you remember the Chronicler?"

Spyro nodded, but he lowered his head, expecting the worst.

"The Chronicler you knew has passed on, into the next world. He had to have someone take over his position…Ignitus was chosen. He's still alive, technically."

Spyro's head and eyes shot up in shock. "You mean…I could see him again?"

Cynder smiled and nodded. "You might, Spyro. Depending on the circumstances, he may try to contact you while we're in this dream world."

Spyro smiled at this. He wasn't expecting to get so much good news at once. "What about everyone else?" He asked.

"The Guardians are fine, Terrador has taken over as the Master Guardian and Volteer and Cyril still argue constantly." Spyro chuckled and shook his head. "Hunter went on a trip back to the cheetah village to deliver supplies when I returned to Warfang, but he said he would return within a month. Sparx has been sauntering ever since I arrived. He's not been his usual self with you gone, Spyro."

Spyro bowed his head in shame once more. "It's my fault…I let everyone down by not coming back sooner. And then, there's the fact that I'm half-dead at this point…it feels so hopeless now." He looked at Cynder. "I let you down, Cynder."

Cynder was shocked at this sudden flurry of emotion from the purple dragon. "Spyro, no one blames you for getting back later than everyone expected. You saved the world…most of the other dragons in Warfang are overjoyed at the news of your return. Most dragons have given you a new nickname…they're calling you the "Savior of the Realms."

Spyro chuckled softly at this. "I always just wanted to be seen as a regular dragon…I never wanted this life, Cynder. Fate works in such mysterious ways. I just wanted to live a normal life, grow up, have education, start a family…it was all stolen from me when the war came to my home."

Cynder choked tears from her throat. Spyro had never opened up to her like this before. Something had changed in him since the battle of Malefor. He had…grown up. He was thinking about his future…about being a life-mate, a father to hatchlings himself. All his life, Spyro had been plagued by tragedy and hardship. Forced to leave the only family he had ever known at a young age, losing Ignitus at Munitions Forge, losing his powers, being trapped for three long years in the time crystal, being chained together with Cynder, the death of Ignitus, and even his own apparent death to the darkness.

And, he lost Cynder; more than once. It had visibly hurt him when she had left the temple before the Night of Eternal Darkness. It had broken his heart when she was corrupted by Malefor's influence and turned into the dark shade that now haunted her mind. He cared deeply about her, she had finally realized that.

"Spyro….once we get out here, you'll be able to have all of that. You can have a normal life. Find a life-mate, settle down…start a family." She smiled at the purple dragon. "With someone special."

"I don't think that I'll have to look very far." Spyro said and he smiled.

Cynder giggled and blushed, turning away from Spyro. She was embarrassed by it…but she had hoped that Spyro would say something like that. She admired him…and loved him.

But…now was not the time for this discussion.

She turned back to him, still smiling. "How about we talk about his AFTER we piece back together our minds?"

Spyro laughed and said, "Fine…but, you're going to owe me response to that once we get out of here."

Cynder blushed again, but a practical question finally came to her mind. "Speaking of which, how DO we get out here?"

Spyro shook his head. "It's…complicated, to say the least. The Dragon Spirit that I spoke to, Emuleta said-"

Cynder quickly interrupted him. "Wait…wait…wait…you spoke with one of the Ancestors? Emuleta herself?"

Spyro nodded but raised a paw up to cut her off. "No time to explain, short answer is yes. She gave me advice and explained what's going on to both of us."

Cynder listened intently as Spyro told her about his encounter with the goddess. She nodded and began to understand…even the Spirits themselves had taken an interest in the purple dragon.

"And so, she said 'Follow your heart' and she vanished in this bright white flash. I followed my instincts, and that led me here."

"That's amazing. I wish she would give us another sign..." Cynder said slowly.

"She will, but now isn't the right time. There's something important about this place. It's familiar to you, right? The portal in Convexity?"

Cynder nodded. "That's what's bothering me about it, Spyro." Cynder said as a shudder ran down her body. She remembered the dream that she had just awoken from. The devastation that she had seen in Warfang…Spyro, the Guardians, Sparx, Hunter, everyone gone was horrifying. Then…the dark spirits that she had seen came into her mind as well.

"_Am I destined to end up like that too?_ _It can't happen to me again…I refuse to be poisoned by the darkness again!" _She thought to herself.

"Cynder, are you okay? What's wrong?" Spyro's calming voice brought her back and comforted her somewhat.

Cynder sighed and turned to look at his image through the portal. "I had a dream…it seemed like our dark spirits had escaped this realm. They had destroyed everything in Warfang. You and I were both killed, along with everyone else."

"Cynder…" Spyro said again.

"I'm just afraid of what might happen if we fail, Spyro. This portal could lead both of us back into the physical world. Imagine what would happen if the darkness got through first, when we're not ready enough to let them through."

"We'll stop it, Cynder. We always have." Spyro said with a grin.

Cynder gave a weak smile herself. "I wish I had your confidence, purple boy."

Spyro chuckled. "Picking up some nicknames from Sparx, I see?"

"From that insufferable glowing mosquito? Of course not."

Spyro simply shook his head. "Emuleta said that we needed to follow our hearts, and that lead me here. There's got to be something that we can do to start the cleansing process around here. I'm going to look around." He began to start walking back down the steps on the other side of the portal.

"Spyro, wait." Cynder shouted after him.

Spyro turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"Good luck." Cynder said as she smiled at him.

He smiled back and nodded at her. He then quickly trotted down the stairs and out of Cynder's view. She did the same and returned to the base of the structure, analyzing it closely. The structure itself was quite simple. It was an open-aired dome like building, with architectural style similar to that of Warfang's skyscrapers. The portal wall faced away from where Cynder was standing. There was a statuette on the top of the dome; it was an insignia of something.

Cynder let her wings fly out and she quickly hovered up to the dome of the structure. She examined the stone structure closely.

The insignia was a circular shape with two intersecting lines in the middle of the circle, with a dot marking the intersection. The ends of the intersecting lines on the circle also had dots marking their intersection points as well. The circular shape was not even throughout…it almost looked like a...map!

"_The points must be the locations of something important. There are four of them…one in each direction, it looks like. North, east, west and south." _She thought to herself.

Cynder looked to the north of her current location. There was a dense fog surrounding the platform, and she couldn't see anything but the portal structure below her. She had to tell Spyro of her discovery first, anyways before she set out for her destination. She flew back down to the portal platform below her and landed with all four paws gently touching on the stone floor.

"Spyro! I think I found something." She shouted into the other side.

The purple dragon quickly walked up the stairs. "What did you find?" Spyro asked.

Cynder pointed upwards with her front-right paw. "There is an insignia at the top of the dome on my side of the portal. It seems to be a map of some sort; there are four points on a circular shape circling around a central point. I think the central point is this portal."

Spyro nodded. "I have the same insignia on my side. I saw it on the flight over, I didn't really think much of it at first. It's definitely worth checking out."

"I needed to tell you before I set out. Can you manage on your own? Can we meet up here once we investigate on our sides?" Cynder asked.

"Of course. I'll be back as soon as I can. You can mange yourself, I know that." Spyro smiled.

Cynder returned the smile. "Good luck, purple boy."

"You too…emerald eyes." Spyro chuckled.

"Call me that again; I'll start calling you 'Savior' myself." They both laughed at this and nodded.

Cynder looked back at the purple dragon and smiled. She spread her wings and lifted off of the platform, headed north.

* * *

Meanwhile, a figure observed the black dragoness fly away and smiled. The figure turned to its side and looked at the creature standing next to it.

"Tell her that everything is going to plan. The pair found the insignia and are headed northwards." The figure said in a hushed tone.

The creature bowed and left the figure's side.

The figure turned again and growled. "Yes…everything is going well. Soon…we will be free from this realm." The figure stared at the disappearing black dragoness on the northern horizon. "Travel well…emerald eyes."

* * *

The sun shone brightly down onto the band of cheetahs and the dragon that had joined their party. Richter had already gotten to know the other cheetahs in the party and they already considered him to be a friend. The trek to Warfang had been easy and quick. After one hour of traveling from the cave, the band of warriors spotted the walls of the impressive Dragon City. The walls were huge, standing over fifty meters in some places. They had been partly destroyed in the Battle of Warfang, but the moles were the most skilled engineers in the Dragon Realms. Most of the damage to the city had already been repaired.

Richter turned to his left to find Hunter staring at him as well, ready to speak.

"The sentries around the city will recognize me, and we should gain easy entry into the city. Once we are through, the rest of the clan will go off and deliver the supplies while you and I will go see the Guardians. A word of warning, young dragon...the Guardians are in a difficult position now regarding the two young saviors of the Realm and are likely to be emotional and aggressive. Being cordial with them right now is our best plan."

Richter nodded. "Thank you again, Hunter."

Hunter just nodded.

"Halt! Identify yourselves and state your business inside the Dragon City." A sentry shouted from above.

Hunter stood in the front of the group and motioned for Richter to do the same. "I am Hunter of Avalar. We carry supplies to deliver to the city and a message from the village of Draxis for the Guardians."

"Ah! Master Hunter…we didn't expect for you to return so soon. Please, enter, with my gratitude." The voice shouted from above.

Hunter looked back at Richter and smirked, giving Richter a wink that said "_I told you so._"

Richter chuckled and shook his head. The gates of the city opened and Richter gasped in amazement.

They had entered through the courtyard gate, where the Golem of the Deep had originally penetrated the city during the Battle of Warfang. The city was amazing, even more so up close. The towers and skyscrapers towered over the small dragon, with their spires seemingly touching the sky and clouds above. There was a large fountain shaped in the image of a great dragon that was to the right of the main gate. It had partially been destroyed, but it was being rebuilt by a group of mole engineers. The stone streets of the city were bustling with creatures of all types. Cheetahs, Moles, Leopards, Wolves and more dragons all filed through the busy stone roads. There was a small place for commerce to the left of a giant tower near the gate, and the stalls around the square were filled with exotic goods all for sale. Richter wasn't used to this amount of people in one place. Draxis only had one marketplace, and it was half the size of this one. The walls of Draxis had to be….half or even a quarter of the size that these were. Richter was astonished.

Hunter shouted at the young dragon from further down the road. "Come, Richter. Now is not the time for sightseeing."

Richter broke out of his trance and ran to catch up with the cheetah clan. Many dragons on the sides of the road murmured and pointed as the clan of cheetahs passed by. Hunter was obviously a very well known figure in the city. Hunter didn't appreciate the attention, but he remained composed and collected.

Richter saw some young dragonesses on the right side of the road giggle and point at him as he passed by. He smiled and waved at the group. The dragonesses quickly turned away, blushing and giggling some more from what Richter had seen. He smiled and continued walking alongside Hunter. He had always attracted attention from the female dragonesses in his village, but he was only interested in one dragoness from the settlement; the only Ice Dragon in the village, Tamara. They had been friends for many years, and had even begun to grow closer than that. Richter was unsure of how the dragoness thought of him, but he was sure that he liked her, with all of his heart.

He smiled at the thought of her and thought, "_I can't wait to get back home and see her again._"

The entourage reached a fork in the road and went their separate ways. Meadow waved at Hunter and Richter and led the other four warriors down a separate path, headed for the main commerce center in the city.

"Come, we're going to the Dragon Temple." said Hunter.

Richter nodded and resorted to a fast trot in an effort to keep up with the speedy cheetah.

The pair rounded a few corners and ducked through streets until they reached another wall the surrounded the city. Sitting on the peak of a natural hill in the city was the Dragon Temple. The dragon and the cheetah then resorted back a leisurely stroll, taking the time to let the sight of the beautiful temple settle in.

"It doesn't matter how many times I come to this place, it never ceases to amaze me with its matter of architecture." said Hunter.

Richter just nodded again and took in the breathtaking building. Its towers and spires that protruded from its main dome shined in the sunlight. The entire building was a circular shape, and looked much larger than the older temple did, according to Hunter. The pair walked up a flight of stairs and Hunter proceeded to enter the main door into the temple.

The interior of the main hallway was decorated by bronze statues of ancient dragons, most bore the names of ancient heroes that had proven themselves on the fields of battle. Some of the names were familiar to Richter, as he had studied military from his father.

Hunter took a left at the end of the main hallway and led the young green dragon up a flight of stairs that led what looked like a waiting room of some sort. There were two great doors in the center of the room, with a sign on the top that read '_Guardian's Chambers_'. Hunter approached the great door and put an ear up to it, listening for any sounds of commotion or debate. He could hear voices on the other side, which meant that the Guardians were present within the chamber. He then proceeded to knock loudly on the door, hoping to get an answer from within.

The voices ceased until a low baritone voice answered, "Come in."

Hunter pushed open the great doors and motioned for Richter to follow him. Richter approached the cheetah's side. He was a bit nervous, but he had dealt with dignitaries before, and appeared calm and collected.

Three large dragons stood around a shimmering pool in the center of the room. The room was decorated with many banners, each featuring an insignia for an element. Each of the three guardians stood beside the element that they had mastered. Out of the many banners in the room, only three were filled. The rest of the room was majestically decorated, the dome on the top featured bright colors that showed through its stained glass. Marble pillars held up the walls around the perimeter, and seats for those who were waiting for audience or just too tired to stand also were stacked up against the wall.

Richter and Hunter both entered the chamber and bowed to the three dragons within the chamber.

The electric looking dragon talked first. "This amiable display of such high respect from this courageous group of skilled warriors is positively-"

"THANK you for the words Volteer." The ice-colored dragon shouted at the electric guardian.

"If you two children are finished, I think we have business to discuss with Hunter and…?" The baritone-voiced Earth Dragon said with a questioning tone.

Richter stepped forward and bowed. "My name is Richter, Master Guardian Terrador. I am the Lieutenant of the Draxis Village Guard."

The Earth Guardian furrowed his large eyes at the young dragon in front of him. "A Lieutenant? How old are you, young dragon?"

"Sixteen, sir. My father, Peron sent me-"

"Ah, Peron. I hadn't known that he had fathered a son in his old age. It is good to hear that hear he and your village survived the war." Terrador said, with a smile creeping onto his face. "Your father is an old friend of mine. I'm glad to see he passed on his fire to a son."

Richter frowned. "I'm actually an Earth Dragon, sir."

"Really? Who is your mother?" Terrador asked in surprise.

Richter bowed his head. "My mother's name is Belinda, sir. She is the Earth Dragon that gave me my element. I have no siblings."

Terrador eyes opened wide and his maw fell open. "B-Belinda, you said? She's alive?"

"Yes, sir…do you know my mother?"

Cyril and Volteer looked at Terrador, who was still in shock.

"Young dragon…your mother shares the same name as my sister."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading chapter 5. This is my longest chapter so far, and my first fight scene that I've ever typed. Please drop me a review and tell me how I did…I'm unsure of how well it turned out. I've never been very good with fight scenes...or romance scenes for that matter. **

**Special Thanks again to Dragon of Night. **

**Other thanks to Airchi for giving me advice on this chapter. **

**And thanks to YOU the reader, for continuing to read and support this SpyroFic. I couldn't do it without all of you!**

**Thanks for reading Chapter 5 of **_**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**_**! Cheater 6 will be coming out soon. **

_**Best regards. -Unit Omicron**_


	6. Chapter 6: Darkness Strikes

**A/N: Hey, guys. Just another request, I'm still looking for an artist then can do a cover for Eternal Slumber. If you are interested in designing it for me, PM me and we can discuss the details. Thanks.**

**Also, I just put up another poll regarding this story and its characters. Please vote in it! It will have an impact on how I develop characters in the future! Thanks.**

**Enjoy Chapter 6!**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 6: Darkness Strikes  
**

Richter just stood there, looking dumbfounded at the Master Guardian. "You….your sister's name is Belinda?"

"Yes, young dragon." Terrador responded. "Has your mother ever mentioned where she was from originally? Before she lived in Draxis?"

Richter gulped down his nerves and nodded his head. "Ye….yes, sir. She is originally from the city of Sha…Shattered Vale."

Terrador looked back at Volteer and Cyril. Both of the other Guardians nodded at him. Both the Electricity and Ice Guardians knew the storied history of Terrador's past and they both knew what he was thinking. Terrador had thought for three and a half years that his family was dead, because of his fateful visit to Shattered Vale before the Night of Eternal Darkness.

Both Guardians knew that they should never mention the event to Terrador. When he had returned from Shattered Vale after Spyro's disappearance, he had never said a word about the trip or what had happened there. There was clearly something that was bothering him about it, but neither Guardian wanted to open up old wounds.

"Richter of Draxis, your mother is quite possibly my sister. I am originally from Shattered Vale as well, and I thought that the settlement had been destroyed, and everyone…" Terrador trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. "What about your grandparents?"

"My mother had never mentioned her parents, sir. My father's parents have both been dead for at least ten summers."

Terrador's eyes glowed with excitement. "So, there's a chance that your mother's parents might be alive? That is...encouraging to hear, Richter."

Richter shook his head. "Master Guardian, with all due respect, every time that I have brought up my grandparents, both of my parents have denied talking to me about it. They say that it is a 'touchy subject' and they refuse to answer."

Terrador bowed in his head and closed his eyes. "I see. Still, you have given me hope, young dragon. That is something that I haven't had in many years." He brought his head back up and smiled. "Now…as to why you are here. What does Peron need with the Guardians? Is Draxis in danger?

Richter bowed nobly and said, "Master Guardian Terrador, The Village of Draxis requests help against the dark forces that currently plague our home. Feral Wolves, led by an unknown assailant, have been raiding and destroying our village over the past few months. Our defences are holding, but we require more help to fend off and drive out these invaders from our home. We humbly request assistance from the Great Guardians of Warfang and hope-."

Terrador chuckled to himself and shook his head, looking down at tho not the young green dragon. "Please, Richter, you do not need to be bent on delivering us formalities. Peron is an old friend and Draxis is under our protection. We will send a small force of warriors to the city at once. I wil personally accompany you to the village, as well."

Both Cryril and Volteer dropped their maws at this. Volteer was the first to speak up. "But, Terrador, what about the glorious and noble defense of the marvelous city of Warfang? What about our courageous and valiant soldiers that fight for continued justice and-"

"Yes, yes...what about Warfang, Terrador?" Cyril butted in, cutting off Volteer's rambling. "Who will be in charge of defence while you are away? You know that Volteer and I will bicker over it while you are gone and you are the most experienced warrior that we have left."

Terrador nodded and closed his eyes. Cyril was right; neither of the other two Guardians could cooperate for very long. There had to be another solution. Spyro and Cynder were obvious choices, but neither were currently available for duty, of course. The moles had able-bodied and capable commanders, but some of the other dragons in the city looked down on the race, and wouldn't willingly follow their orders. There was one other option.

Terrador looked back up and stared directly at the cheetah in the room. Hunter had prior leadership experience and he was going to be present in the city for the next few months himself. He was capable warrior and was calm and collected in times of crisis.

Hunter noticed the Master Guardian staring at him, and the cheetah stared back at him, a questioning look spread across his face.

After a few long moments, Terrador finally spoke up. "Hunter…you will be in the city for the next few months, correct?"  
Hunter nodded slowly, still looking confused.

"What would you say about taking over a temporary position of Commander of the Guard of Warfang?"

Hunter's mouth dropped at this proposition from Terrador. He was unprepared for the question, and did not have answer prepared right away, he needed time to think.  
"Hunter?"

Hunter collected himself and stared directly into the Master Guardian's eyes. "Master Guardian Terrador, I am humbled by your offer, but I need time to consider. This position carries great weight and responsibilities, and my clan must know before I accept or decline your offer."

Terrador nodded, understandingly. "Of course, Hunter. I do not wish to rush this decision onto to you. We will hold another meeting tomorrow afternoon. This meeting of the Guardians of the Elements is adjourned. Good day to all."

All of the individuals in the room began to file out towards the large entry door. Volteer was the first to leave, muttering something about reading his scrolls in the library. Cyril left and headed down the stairs towards the Guardian's Dormitories, likely headed to organize his belongings for the opening of the academy, which was only two months away now.

Cyril was a brilliant dragon, being gifted not only in the elements, but in teaching draconic history and mathematics. Volteer was proficient in teaching the elements as well, but he also specialized in the draconic language and the study of the natural world. Cyril and Volteer were great instructors, but both tended to drag on and on about subjects that they were interested in.

Hunter turned to exit the chambers and he motioned again for Richter to follow him. Richter nodded and began to follow the cheetah out of the chambers. However, as the young earth dragon moved to exit the chambers, a paw landed on his left shoulder, which caused him to stop dead in his tracks and look over his shoulder.

Terrador stood there, towering over the smaller form of Richter. Terrador stared at the younger earth dragon for a moment, a condescending look on his face. He finally spoke up, "Richter, I would like to have a word with you for a moment. You and I have some…family matters to discuss before tomorrow's meeting. Do you two have a moment to wait?"

Richter gulped and looked back to Hunter, his face screaming, 'Help me!'

Hunter chuckled softly to himself and then looked up to Terrador with a calm posture and facial expression. "Terrador, I need to see my clan and make sure they know about my decision regarding your leadership proposition." He then looked at Richter and opened his mouth to speak again. "Do you think that you can find your way around the city alone?"

Richter shuddered and closed his eyes. He had a good sense of direction, but he was nervous. Warfang was a MASSIVE metropolis. Richter remained composed on the outside, but was inwardly concerned about the lack of signs and direction that he had seen around the city during their trek through the city earlier that day. He finally opened his green eyes and spoke to Hunter, "I think so, Hunter. Thank you for your help. I will find an inn to rest my wings for the night."

Hunter nodded back and opened his mouth to speak, but Terrador cut him off. "Nonsense, we have many dormitories downstairs from here that are currently being unused. The academy doesn't open for another few months; you can take a spare room there, if you wish, Richter."

"Thank you, Master Guardian Terrador. I accept, with gratitude." said Richter.

Both dragons looked at the remaining individual in the room, Hunter. He bowed lowly and exited the room, closing the towering doors behind him.

Richter nodded back to Hunter and watched him leave before he turned his attention back to his apparent uncle. "Master Guardian Terrador…what wa…was it that you needed to discuss with me?"

"Please, Richter. If you really are my nephew, you needn't to address me like that. You very well may be my nephew. Such formalities are appreciated, but not needed. I take my role as Master Guardian seriously, but you needn't be so formal with me."

"Yes…of course…sir."

Terrador bellowed with laughter, which made the mood lighter and helped the always nervous Richter relax. Richter was known for outward sense of confidence and poise, but he actually unsure of himself on the inside. He did not regret taking the role as the second-in-command of Draxis' guard forces, but he was unsure of how well he commands in his father's stead when Peron eventually passed away himself. Peron was not old, but he carried great stress and danger in his selected occupation, just as Richter did.

The son and father pair was inseparable. Both dragons, Richter and Peron, carried a great bond and were best of friends, despite Peron's authoritative role in Richter's life. The two both carried respectful positions within the social structure of Draxis, and were often seen as nobles among the population of the tiny village.  
The reality was not entirely different from the nobility role, but the entire village was relatively poor due to its remoteness and constant raids against its wealth stores. The feral wolves that were attacking the town were relentless, and they stole much of the tiny wealth that the village still obtained. The wolves had also attacked numerous traders on the roads outside the village. They had stolen, kidnapped and had even murdered many of the merchants that attempted to trade in the village. Only through armed guards from Draxis' own guard force had some of the caravans been able to reach Draxis' walls.  
"Richter? Did you hear me?" a voice spoke, bringing the green dragon back into reality. Terrador looked down on Richter, a slightly concerned look washing over his face.

Richter shook his head. "My apologies, Terrador. I was…thinking about home. I apologize for the rude-"

Terrador raised his paw to cut him off. "It is no issue, Richter. I merely asked how your parents are faring against these…feral wolf raids you speak of."

"Well…my father, of course, is the captain of the guard in Draxis. He has been outwardly proud and strong for the few men that we have left, but he has confided in me that he is nervous. Half the village has been tasked with defending our home, and yet we are barely able to defend what we have left. He is concerned that we are going to lose the village." He paused and waited for a reply. Terrador simply nodded his head and motioned for him to continue. "My mother has some combat experience, but she is more suited to the more functional tasks around the village. She is the only teacher at our school in Draxis, and she has been discussing military history and tactics in class more and more. Unlike my father, she is hopeful that reinforcements will arrive before we lose the rest of the village."

Terrador chuckled and looked down at the stone floor, shaking his head. "That sounds exactly like my sister. She's always been determined, that one."

Richter smiled and nodded his head. "Terrador, if I may…do you really think that you are my uncle? What would this mean for my family?"

Terrador nodded at the question and took a moment to respond. "You would be offered the chance to stay in Warfang to participate in the new academy that we are hoping to open within the next few months. If Draxis falls…that may be the best option for you and your family. Besides…it would be a joy great joy to me to have my extended family living close by to me. You and Belinda…you are the only ones left in my life."

Terrador felt a single tear reach his eye and fall down the cold stone floor below. However, it was not a tear of sorrow, for the first time of years.

Terrador had hope to see his family once more.

He looked back down at the young dragon standing below him and he smiled. "Come, let us go and see the sleeping quarters."

Richter nodded and followed his uncle as they once again opened the humongous doors at the entrance to the chambers and trotted over to the stairs on the side of the room. Both Earth Dragons walked slowly down the stairs and walked towards the dormitories. It was now late afternoon; the sun had already completed the halfway point of its journey across the sky. Richter looked out the window and noticed the long shadows of the spires of the Temple cast about on the ground far below. He smiled. The skyline of the rising buildings in the city was beautiful this time of year. He had always loved the city, not the rural life of danger that he had always lived. The proposition of living with his uncle and his fellow Guardians in Warfang was enticing, but it was not his call. His parents would have the final call in the case, not him. He knew that he would receive a better education at the Guardian's Academy rather than he would learning from his mother, but he had obligations to Draxis.

It was Peron and Belinda's call. Not his.

The pair of Earth Dragons entered the sleeping quarters wing and Richter noticed several moles darting in and out of two specific rooms on either side of the hallway, separate by two doorways in between. A confused look came over the young dragon's face on these numerous attendants, and he paused and looked at his uncle for guidance.

Terrador, as if reading his nephew's thoughts looked down at him with a slight look of sadness. "You've heard about how the two young dragons Spyro and Cynder saved the world a few weeks ago, correct?" Richter nodded and cocked his head to one side. "Well...as a result, they were both overtaken by darkness. Both are currently in a near-death state called Eternal Slumber. According to my latest visit to our friend the Chronicler, they are fighting the darkness in their minds that is seeking to take control of them. If they fail to regain control of themselves...Warfang would face imminent destruction. They are the most powerful dragons in the Realm, despite their age. I doubt that even the Guardians and all of the city's defences could stand up to their dark sides if it comes to that."

Richter listened intently, eyes sparkling with curiosity. He had heard the stories of Spyro and Cynder's adventures, but he had never thought that he would meet them in person. "_I'm certainly moving up in the world._"He thought to himself, a smiling creeping onto his face.

"As a result of their condition, we have forbidden any dragon from interacting with them. They need privacy, protection and comfort. I hope you will understand that you mustn't disturb their rest." Richter nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you, nephew. Would like one the rooms in between the two? If you are the second-in-command to Peron, I assfrfume that you must have combat experience...just in case, of course."

Richter nodded. "I've been fighting all my life. I can handle myself." He said with a smile.

Terrador returned the smile and opened the door of the room to the left of Cynder's room. "I hope you find your accommodations comforting. Feel free to explore the Temple and Warfang while you are here. You might return one day, if your parents allow you to study at the academy." He handed a mark to Richter. "This will help you if you happen to run into trouble. It shows that you are here in the city as a guest of the Guardians." Terrador smiled again and nodded. "It's good to know that I have some family left, Richter. Thank you. For the first time in many years, I have hope."

Richter smiled back. "Of course...uncle."

Terrador nodded and shut the door to the dormitory, giving Richter privacy. Richter looked around the room and examined its contents. It was the same as Cynder's room, but he could see the slumbering black dragoness from the balcony outside. The moles had left her alone for the time being, and she was...resting? Richter couldn't tell. Terrador had said that she was in a near-death-state, and she certainly looked like it.

Cynder's black scales had withered away a bit, turning to a lighter shade of black, almost looking gray in some places. Her once brightly-colored magenta underbelly and wing membranes now looked like a light pink. She looked...dead to Richter, but he trusted his uncle's judgment.

Richter sighed and thought of the events of the past two days. He had met the legendary Dragon Guardians. He had seen the Saviour of the Realms and the Terror of the Skies. He had met the best tracker and hunter in the entirety of Avalar, maybe in all of the Realms. He had learned that one of the Guardians was actually his uncle. He had personally been invited to join the most prestigious academy in the world. He shook his head and thought about the travel back home. He was bringing one of the most fearsome dragon warriors in the world who was also apparently his uncle. He was going to study in Warfang, if his parents permitted it. Then he remembered someone else.

"_What would Tamara think_?" Richter said to himself.

The young ice dragoness had been his friend all his life, but they had never showed feelings for each other. Richter wanted to be more than friends with the beautiful dragoness, but he had no way of telling her how he felt. If he stayed in Warfang after they defeated the wolves, what would she think? Would he ever see her again? Would she...possibly want to join him in Warfang?

Richter shook his head, saying, "_No. I have to ask her myself before I drive myself crazy with this._"

He returned himself back into the real world and looked out on the city below. Getting a sense for adventure, Richter sprouted his wings and soared down to the streets below; looking to explore the giant city lied out before him.

* * *

Spyro continued to flap his wings violently. He had been flying to several hours and he was getting exhausted. He had been flying northwards in the direction that the insignia on the portal structure had pointed to. Despite his feelings of certainty of his detonation, Spyro was getting worried. He had been flying for hours on end and there was no sight of anything in front of him. Cynder had been so sure about her sense of direction, but Spyro was getting worried. She was perfectly capable of managing and defending herself, but there was something wrong…there were darker and bigger forces at work here in this dream world. Spyro had, so far, been able to avoid any conflict, but he was sure that he was being watched. The skies continually turned darker and darker the further north he went, which was his only indication of progress. Besides the occasional darker platforms below him as he flew, there was no indication of life or activity in the areas around him.  
Little did the dragon know, he was being followed by something. Something…evil was attempting to finally make its presence known to the young dragon.

A dark figure followed the young dragon at a distance, waiting for the perfect time to strike. It had passed over from another dimension, and hoped to catch the young dragon off guard. The figure and its counterpart were attempting to draw the two dragons apart and sever their bond through carefully placed traps and words. The dark figure smiled and flapped its wings more aggressively, hoping to catch the dragon unaware and strike him out of the sky.

Suddenly, a dark figure darted around the corner of Spyro's vision, making him pause in mid-flight and quickly turn to his right. There was nothing there, besides a platform sitting directly below him. He narrowed his eyes and lowered himself to the platform, planting his feet hard in the ground and putting his body into a defensive position.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" He shouted into the darkening void. Nothing made a sound. Spyro growled and lowered his head, opinions his maw to prepare for any sign of trouble. A figure again darted around the left side of his vision, and he launched a quick fireball at it, but the figure had diapered again into the void. The fireball flew across the sky for a few meters and then quickly dispersed.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain seared through the back end of Spyro's tail, as if a sharp set of teeth were bearing into them. He howled in pain and quickly turned around, launching an electricity bolt at the apparent target. The bolt of electricity did not find a target and disappeared into the void. Spyro brought his tail up to his face. There was a teeth wound several inches above his tail blade. The wound was not serious, it was only trickling small droplets of blood and stung slightly.  
What had given him the wound? There was nothing around Spyro…no creature, darkness or anything.

Spyro felt a large surge of energy build up in body, and he released a small fire fury, hoping to draw out the creature with a powerful display of fire. Spyro heard a sharp hiss behind him, and he quickly turn around, opting to finally locate the mysterious creature. Spyro growled when he saw his elusive enemy.

"You…" He growled at the dark creature standing in front him on the platform.

The dark spirit smiled through its pain and bared its teeth. "You expected someone different?" It said, and it laughed maniacally.

"You'll never win. This is my mind! MY world!"

"It's OUR mind, my friend." The darkness shouted back.

"NO! You have no right to be here!" Spyro returned with growing fury.

The dark spirit just snickered and opened its maw. A dark green energy came out and was hurled at Spyro.

A poison shot.

Spyro rolled to his right, just in time for the poison ball to miss him to the left. The dark spirit growled and sunk into the platform below the purple dragon.

It had shadow powers too.

Spyro watched the ground beneath his feet, hoping to notice any disturbances. He noticed a shadow directly below him, and he shot up an earth pillar in the desired spot. The dark spirit howled in pain and came flying out of the ground and it sided across the platform when it landed, resting in a spot four meters away from Spyro.

It quickly returned to its feet and growled again at the Savior of the Realms.

"You brought this upon yourself for your interference in our affairs. Malefor was only the beginning." It said in a menacing tone. "You're next."

"NO!" Spyro shouted back. "I'll never submit to you or your forces! This is my life! You can't control me or Cynder anymore!"

The darkness simply laughed again. "Oh, yes we can. Dark Spyro knows it. Whenever you enter that form, you tap into our power. Rage, malice and aggression are what make up that form. They are the purest of emotions."

"NO! You're wrong! The light guides my life, not you or your brethren!"

The dark spirit growled lowly again and began to circle around Spyro, probing for any weaknesses. Spyro had already noticed the appearance of the spirit; it looked all too familiar. It shared the same appearance; it had six white and glowing horns and its glowing claws were sharpened, ready for battle. IT eyes sone a bright white, and its scales were jet balk. The tail blade on the end was refined, sharpened for the occasion. It had the same powers too: Wind, Poison, Fear and Shadow. Only one other creature in the Dragon Realms shared those properties.

It was Cynder, in her dark form once again.

Spyro bared his teeth at the encircling form of Cynder's dark side. "How did you pass into my realm? Where's the Dark Spyro?"

"Oh he's doing just fine, handling your friend in the other side of this dream world. So kind of you to ask. As for your other question, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually…no reason to ruin the surprise." It laughed at this and stretched out its sharp claws. It growled again and launched itself at Spyro, intending to strike a killing blow.

The fight for Spyro's fate had begun.

The Dark Cynder hurled itself at Spyro's dark purple dragon and attempted to claw out his neck. Spyro countered this and scratched the underbelly of the dark spirit. The attack was unsuccessful and it missed, with Sypro's paw flying under the Dark Cynder's body. Dark Cynder took the blundering paw and pulled on it, causing Spyro to somersault and land on the ground face up with a thud. He groaned in pain, but launched a small stream of electricity at the spirit, knocking it over. Both dragons, however, quickly returned to their feet with grunts of pain and agony. Spyro launched another earth shot, but it was met in fury with another poison shot from the opposing spirit. The poison melted through the slab of earth and met Spyro head-on with full force. Part of his right leg took most of the shot, and he grasped in tightly with his other paw.

He narrowed his eyes at the other dragon and felt the familiar energy of Convexity build up in his maw; he fired it at the dark form of Cynder that had begun to launch an attack of its own. The dark spirit attempted to dodge, but the beam was too fast for the dark spirit. The purple energy struck the dark spirit, sending it flying off of the platform and into the empty space below. Spyro ran over the edge of the platform, hoping that he knocked the dark spirit off for good.

Unfortunately, he was a bit too hopeful. A large cyclone knocked him back and sent Spyro tumbling across the ground, and landing on the opposite edge of the hovering platform. The Dark Cynder seethed with pain, but it struggled on, aggressively flapping its wings so that it could land on the platform without injury. It managed to do so, but it had severe pain in its side, and dark-colored blood came out of its many open wounds.  
Spyro wasn't faring much better. He had numerous burn marks from the poison and bruise marks from the Dark Cynder's claws and cyclone attack. He was horribly injured, but the Dark cinder had taken some bad wounds as well.

So far, the battle had been a stalemate. Neither dragon had gained an advantage.

They were equally matched.

"Perhaps I was too overzealous in my attempt to kill you, Spyro." The Dark Cynder growled menacingly at the purple dragon. "I will not make the same mistake again." The Dark Cynder opened its wings and flew away, likely seeking to gather its strength and eventually resume the stalled battle.

Spyro sighed and watched the dark dragoness fly away. He was worried about how the real Cynder was faring against his dark counterpart. She was strong, but could she stand up against the Dark Spyro's strength? Was she able to see through the spirit's deception like he had been able to? Only time could tell.

"_Guide her, Emuleta. Help her on her journey._" The purple dragon said to himself.

Combined with fatigue from the flight and a small loss of blood, Spyro quickly passed out and fell unconscious.

* * *

Cynder also lay on the ground, quietly sobbing to herself. She also had burn marks and wounds with dried blood all of over her body. She was gravely wounded, and needed medical attention.

The real black dragoness had been attacked by a dark specter that had looked exactly like Spyro. At first she had been worried; fearing that Spyro himself had already been taken over by the darkness in his own mind. She felt like she had failed him and the Realms again. However, there had been something…off about the dark dragon's movements. She knew it wasn't the REAL Spyro. It couldn't have been. Even if he had been taken over by the dark forces, he would not have attacked her so…viciously. The black dragoness knew that it was just a ruse; a fake to make both dragons fear each other and create an air of distrust between the two real dragons.

Needless to say, it hadn't worked.

Cynder knew that Spyro would never betray her for the darkness, even if it threatened him to the point of death. After the death of Ignitus, he had transferred into his dark form, both Cynder's emotional words and consoling had been enough to bring him back from the darkest realms of his mind.  
She trusted the purple dragon.

She had to.

Cynder sighed and slowly tried to struggle to her feet, but she failed under their weight. She was too injured to continue until her wounds were healed. Unfortunately for the black dragoness, she had no experience in healing and had limited time before she was due back at the portal structure to meet with Spyro. She needed time to naturally heal her wounds.

"_How could this get any worse_?" The black dragoness muttered to herself. She struggled to her paws again, this time she actually succeeded, but she had limited mobility and she was exhausted from the fight with the Dark Spyro and her long flight north from the portal. There still had been no signs of any activity around her and nothing pointed to her getting any closer to her goal.

She was hoping for a miracle.

Suddenly, a bright flash of white light filled Cynder's eyes, forcing to shut them tightly and raise her paw to cover her face. The flash quickly subsided and Cynder reopened her eyes, hoping to find the source of the bright flash. What met her eyes was shocking.

A bright white dragoness looked down on Cynder with friendly eyes and a warm smile. She looked exactly like she was described in the old legends. It had to be her.

"Emuleta…"

* * *

**A/N: Hey, sorry for the long wait guys! I'm living away from a computer for the next few weeks and I haven't had time to type! Thanks so much for your patience with this chapter!**

**Special thanks again to Darkness Oversoul, Moonlight the Dragon, TheNorwegianSpyroFan, Phoenix of Decay, Zizima and Darkfire Dragon28 for their helpful reviews, PMs and encouragement in typing this chapter.**

**Also a big thanks to Dragon of Night for helping me with his 500+ PMs to me and his help with some of the plot elements in this story. Also thanks to him for his help with co-creating a new O/C that will be introduced in a few chapters. His story, _The Return to the Cave_!, has been getting better and better with each subsequent chapter. If you want a quicker read than mine, go check out his story!**

**One more big thanks to Airchi for his BRing of this chapter! He's just released another chapter to his story, _Elemental Darkness_, it has a great plot and he's really getting to a great spot in the story. Go check him out!**

**Finally, a very big thanks to New Legend1 for his amazing new story, _The Malefor Chronicles_, which have helped me gain inspiration to keep writing. If you want to read a truly amazing novel, go read his two stories. He's an amazing writer.**

**Thank you again for all of the support with this story, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the novel. Thanks again, guys! Don't forget to review and tell me how I'm doing!**

_**Best regards to you. –Unit Omicron**_


	7. Chapter 7: Forgotten Feelings

**A/N: Hello again, guys. Just to request another time, I'm still looking for someone to draw or make a cover for this story. PM me if you are interested. Thanks.**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 7: Forgotten Feelings**

Cynder's eyes glowed, both due to anticipation and the glowing aura of the large dragoness hovering in front of her.

Emuleta certainly knew how to make an entrance.

"Cynder." The white dragoness said as she landed on the platform where Cynder was resting.

"Em...Emuleta. My lady." Cynder stammered out as she lowered her head, in a bowing sort of motion.

Emuleta giggled, almost sounding like a teenage dragoness when she did it. Cynder felt very...relaxed in the dragoness' presence. There was something familiar about the dragoness, but Cynder couldn't quite place what it was.

"Cynder, there is no need to be nervous. I mean you no harm. In fact..." Emuleta walked over to Cynder's resting frame. It was covered in scrapes and bruises from her long battle with the Dark Spyro. Cynder's emerald eyes opened wide.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous about Emuleta. There was something relaxing about the Spirit, but Cynder had never been exposed to the religion of the dragons during her upbringing around Malefor. Malefor had taught her that he was the only 'god' worth worshipping. He had abused her in more than one way and she was fearful of figures of authority, especially those with dark ties. Cynder was knowledgeable about the Dragon Ancestors, but she was still scared around spirtual figures like the Guardians and now the Dragon Ancestor standing in front of her.

Emuleta noticed her look of apprehension and giggled again in her comforting tone. "Cynder, I understand your fear, but I promise to you; you have nothing to fear from me. I am not influenced by darkness like the darker Spirits." She then smiled and looked directly into the black dragoness' eyes. "Here. Give me your right paw."

Cynder stared at the white Dragon Spirit for a moment, but reluctantly raised her right paw up to Emuleta's waiting paw. The two paws pressed together in a firm grasp and both dragonesses closed their eyes in concentration. Cynder felt a warm feeling envelop her body, and she shivered from the sudden heat. Her maw formed into a bright smile as warm memories filled her mind from the Light Power of the Light Spirit.

Cynder thought back to all the happy times in her short life. All of them involved Spyro in some way. She felt her ever-reddening cheeks warm up even further...she was blushing again. All of the happiness that she had had in her life was because of the purple legend. He had believed in her, regardless of her allegiance to light or dark. He had been a true friend to her, no matter what. He had trusted her when no on else had. He had saved her life in more ways than one, saving her from Malefor's influence twice and saving her from Gaul's grasp three years ago. He had never given up on her, and cared about her well-being regardless of the situation. He was by her side, and she by his, even as they had walked through hell to Malefor's lair. They had done it all...together. It was in that moment that Cynder finally realized the truth that had been in front of her the entire time that she had known Spyro.

"He loves me." She thought aloud.

The black dragoness opened her eyes and gasped. All of the scars, scrapes, burns and wounds on her body had vanished. Not a single mark that showed that the black dragoness had been in a battle remained.

Cynder had been fully healed.

The black dragoness looked back up at the white dragoness, who was staring back and smiling. "My powers of healing are limited to those who can truly feel the warmness and numbing feeling inside themselves. You are truly one with your emotions, Cynder. Especially about Spyro, I see."

Cynder smiled and lowered her head to the ground. She was blushing again. "He means a lot to me. I care about him...probably more than anyone else in the Realms, Emuleta. I know that he does too, even though he hasn't told me it yet. I just know that he cares...he's done so much for me."

"You love him, Cynder." Emuleta said.

Cynder lowered her head to the ground again and giggled a bit. She nodded her head but didn't look back up.

Emuleta laughed and gave another bright smile. "In all my years, I have never seen a bond like the two you share at your young age. The feelings that you both share for each other...that kind of relationship is unbreakable."

Cynder looked back up and nodded. "I know. That's what I'm fighting for...to be able to get back to him, Emuleta." Cynder then realized the task that she had at paw. "I have to go...I have to keep venturing northwards. We have to find a way to get home."

The Light Spirit put a paw on the black dragoness' shoulder, making her turn back to the Light Spirit, a look of confusion creeping across her face. "You mustn't rush into this, Cynder. The dark forces of your mind and Spyro's mind wait for you around every turn. Healing you was not my only purpose in appearing to you and Spyro."

Cynder cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"I also came to give you a warning, Cynder."

"Which is...?"

"You mustn't trust anyone in this world. Nothing in this realm is truly what it seems to be. Your mind is clouded by the darkness that you know is seeking to end you and take control of your life."

"Then...how do I know that you aren't lying to me? You could be one of the darkness' constructs yourself."

Emuleta nodded at the question, understanding the rationale. "The dark forces would seek to manipulate you into doing their bidding. You can trust me because your heart does. Didn't Spyro tell you what I told him as I vanished from his vision?"

Cynder nodded slowly. "'You said 'Follow your heart', according to Spyro."

Emuleta nodded herself, again. "It will never fail you. If you hadn't trusted me, you wouldn't have let me heal you like I did. Besides, I'm here to help you on your journey, Cynder. Not harm it."

Cynder looked up at this. She had to ask about that statement from Emuleta. "But...why, Emuleta? Why help us? The Spirits almost never get involved in normal dragons' daily lives. Why are you doing this for us?"

Emuleta stopped staring at Cynder and she looked off into the distance, away from the black dragoness. "Because...if your dark spirits escaped this realm, the balance of light and dark would be finished. When Spyro defeated Malefor, he returned balance to the world, just as your Ignitus predicted. The darker Dragon Spirits were enraged, they wanted to kill you both for your 'insolence'. They almost succeeded in doing so. Their attacks, however, are what triggered both of you slipping into the state that you are now in. Only through the efforts of me and my colleagues were we able to save the both of you." Emuleta then hung her head in shame. "I just wish that it hadn't come to this..."

"What do you mean? Cynder inquired.

"Some of the other light-aligned Dragon Spirits sacrificed themselves to the darkness in order to save you...like Desimo."

"Desimo?"

Cynder knew the name. Deismo was the Chief Spirit of the Ancestors themselves. He was the spirit of Wisdom, Leadership and Education. He was a Light Spirit himself, but Emuleta was the chief spirit of that morality path. However, there was something else that Cynder he read about Deismo that bothered her. It regarded his relationship with Emuleta.

Isn't he..." Cynder started.

Emuleta looked at the black dragoness, and for the first time, had a sad look draped across her face.

"He's my husband, Cynder. I may have to fight him to protect you both."

Cynder looked down at the ground. "Emuleta, I am so sorry..."

Cynder looked back up at the white dragoness to find a weak smile spread across her face.

"Thank you for the sympathy, Cynder...but I do not need it. Desimo knew the risks ahead of him when he fought the Darker Spirits. He fought for you and the future of the Realms. He was so brave..."

For the first time in many years, Emuleta felt tears roll down her face. She missed Desimo, and hated what he had become. She knew that he had done in for her and for the future of the Realms, but that did not change the fact that he been turned into the very darkness that he vowed to destroy when he had taken the position of the Master Spirit.

Emuleta felt a slight nudge against the bottom of her left paw. She looked down to find Cynder standing there, with her emerald eyes full of concern. "Once Spyro and I get out of here, we'll fight to get him back. I promise."

Emuleta smiled. "Thank you, Cynder...but you need to focus on yourself right now. The road ahead is not easy and you will tested in more ways than one before you will reach your goal. Remember what I said and never lose hope. I must leave you now. There are...preparations to make...continuity of the world to consider. Goodbye, Cynder." The light dragoness began to sparkle with light, as she was about to vanish again.

"Wait! How am I supposed to know where I'm going? What am I supposed to do?" Cynder exclaimed.

"Remember...Cynder...follow your instincts...they will never..." The voice was cut off as the Spirit vanished in a bright flash of light.

Cynder looked down at the ground and stomped it in frustration. She still had no way of knowing if she was going in the right direction or if the darkness was targeting her again. She felt anger towards the spirit for not telling her more, but Cynder knew deep down that Emuleta couldn't tell her everything. That risked upsetting the balance of power that Emuleta had mentioned.

Cynder sat down and looked out to the empty void. Many emotions and thoughts crossed through her mind as she peered out into the never-ending space. The realm was quiet, as it had been since she had arrived here. It was a familiar place to the balck dragoness, but was she was still uncomfortable with place as well. There had been a nagging feeling of darkness that shrouded the realm even when it was light out, like the skies were now.

The dream realm was controlled by Cynder's thoughts and emotions, Emuleta had told Spyro. Spyro's realm was the same way, apparently. When Cynder was angry, nervous, sad or when she felt any other negative emotion; the dream world felt less welcoming and darker. The light was replaced by darkness and dark figures seemed to lurk around in the dark fog that seemed to surround the space that the black dragoness occupied. Whether the atmosphere was light, dark, or in between, Cynder felt uncomfortable.

The place was the place where her dreams and thoughts took place, but it felt unnatural and foreign to Cynder. She wanted to get out and back into the real world. She felt dazed, confused and lonely.

Even with the constantly changing dreamscape; there was always one constant: A path that was open to follow whilst most others were obscured.

She wanted to see Spyro again.

Cynder sighed at the thought and continued to gaze out into the void around her. She still had no idea how long of a trip awaited her to her northern objective, but she was determined to reach it

"_For you, Spyro._" she thought as she opened her wings and began to fly northwards again.

* * *

"So, you're completely sold out? You have absolutely none left?"

"Yes, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience, sir. A young Ice Dragon came in here earlier today and bought the very the last of my stock."

Richter sighed and shook his head. "It's fine. I just needed them for a trip that I will be taking tomorrow. Thank you for your help, sir."

The mole nodded and went to help another customer in his small blacksmithing shop. Richter was looking for a reinforcement for his fin-shaped tail blade to use in combat back in Draxis. He had checked four different blacksmiths, and none of them had had what he needed; either they didn't sell the shape that his blade was in, or they had been sold out of tail reinforcements all together.

"_Just my luck." _The Earth Dragon thought while he shook his head.

He knew that his tail blade was an odd shape, he had not met any other dragon with the shape, but it was elegantly simple as well. He thought that he would be able to find a shop with a reinforcement for it, but he was wrong. Reinforcements made the blade harder and sharper, which in turn made it more effective combat. If a dragon had a tail-shape that could be used in combat, it could be reinforced as well. Reinforcements were part of an armor set, which Richter already possessed.

The young Earth Dragon exited the shop and looked up at the bright blue sky above him. It had a light blue tint, looking even brighter because of the bright sun that now illuminated the Realms. After the world had re-formed, it appeared that the Dragon Realms were receiving more sunlight than they ever had before, but no one in the Realms knew the cause of it.

The sky didn't have a single cloud in the sky and it hadn't rained in about a week, according to some of the residents that Richter had spoken with around the city. The weather in Warfang was usually mild, but it was cooler this season that it had been last summer. Richter didn't mind, he favored the cooler weather over warmer weather.

Richter turned his attention back to the streets of the city. He was standing in he central marketplace of the city, which was buzzing with activity around this time in the afternoon. Richter watched as creatures walked to and from different stands and shops that lined the marketplace's streets. There was an argument between two Ice Dragons over the price of a slab of meat that the bigger Ice Dragon was selling. At another stand, a Cheetah was passing a gem to a mole behind a weapons stand. Gems were the currency of the city, and were commonly used by outlying cities and villages as well, like Draxis. At another shop, there were a pair of Earth Dragons had their wings draped over one another. The male looked at the female and smiled, and then turned his attention back to the spices stand that he was buying from. Richter smiled at this. It was nice to see younger dragons his age already forming relationships. Dragons led long lifetimes and had plenty of time to choose a life mate, but many dragons found their partner at younger ages than others.

Richter noticed a bright yellow flash out of the corner of his, which made him turn and look, a bewildered look on his face. A small bug-like creature was floating outside of a shop, whose sign read 'Potions and Elixers', while waving its fist and shouting to the manager of the store. The manager, a mole, was yelling back and was trying to get him to exit the shop. Several other individuals stood around the shop, and also had confused looks on their faces. The bug creature was a dragonfly, Richter noticed, and was glowing a bright yellow color. Its wings were fluttering violently and the dragonfly had a determined look on its face.

"Do you know who I am?" The dragonfly shouted at the manager. "I am SPARX! The Savior of the Realms! The Keeper of Warfang! The brother of-"

"Get out of my store, little bug. Just because you're the 'brother of Spyro' doesn't mean you should get a 'manliness potion' for free. I don't even sell those." The manager said calmly. He the proceeded to shut the door in the dragonfly's face.

The dragonfly just sighed and noticed Richter staring at him. Richter was laughing out loud as a result of the exchange. Sparx fluttered over to where Richter as standing and put his paws on his hips. "What are you snickering about, stones for brains?"

Richter stopped laughing and glared at the young dragonfly. "I DO NOT have stones in my brain, you little glowing mosquito."

Sparx gave a confused look at Richter. "How do you know my nickname? Only Cynder calls me that."

"It just came to mind, I guess. You are an annoying little mosquito, from what I hear. Sparx, right? The 'famous' Savior of the Realms, I take it?" Richter said, almost laughing as he said it.

Sparx nodded and said, "Yeah, that's me. Glad to see SOMEONE around here knows me. And, I know you, you're Richter! Hunter was speaking quite highly of you earlier."

"Hunter led me to the city after we met in a cave during my trip here. He and his clan are impressive hunters and warriors themselves."

"Yeah, yeah...that's great and all, but they don't even come close to my skills!" Sparx said as he flexed his 'muscles'.

"Your skills? I've heard that all you did for Spyro during your journey was provide comedic relief and moral support."

Sparx narrowed his eyes at the Earth Dragon. "Hey, now that's offensive. Without my words of encouragement, there's no way he would've been able to get by."

Richter laughed and shook his head. "Of course not, Sparx. And that's why EVERYONE calls you the Savior of the Realms."

Sparx actually chuckled himself. "You know, Richter, you're alright. Glad to finally meet you. Now, if you'll excuse me...the Guardians probably need my help with some important business, because I'm their closest adviser, of course." And with that, the golden dragonfly gave a quick salute and hovered off towards the Temple.

Richter just smiled and shook his head again. Sparx was an interesting character, there was no doubt about that. He was egocentric, to say the least, but Richter sensed something inside the young dragonfly when they had conversed. For some reason, Richter felt like Sparx was hiding something. His feelings? His true self? There was no way to be sure, but Richter was curious. He let the thought drift from his mind and continued down the path towards another area of the city.

He was supposed to be meeting Hunter and Meadow in another marketplace to discuss Richter's leave from Warfang and Terrador's offer of the leadership position. Hunter had said that he was going to discuss it with the rest of his clan first, then meet Richter and Meadow in private. Despite only meeting a few days earlier, the cheetah already trusted Richter, the young Earth Dragon's experience in the Guard of Draxis provided an adviser with experience in the art of warfare and leadership.

Hunter had been a leader of defense for his small village in the Valley of Avalar, but the captain of the entire Dragon City was another matter entirely. Hunter had been unsure of accepting the position, despite his experience as a leader. Most of the moles in the city already knew who he was, and most had a large amount of respect for the wise cheetah. It would be a natural fit, but Hunter was still hesitant.

Richter turned a corner around a smaller side street and entered a smaller marketplace. There were fewer stands around the smaller square, but it seemed that this market was just as popular as the main one in the city; creatures of all types milled around, checking for goods in the stands. Richter walked alongside the brightly colored shops, some of the shopkeepers looking up from their work to nod at him or to try to get the young dragon to buy their specific product.

Richter stopped and leaned up against a wall that bordered the entryway to the square, his eyes scanning the crowds for any sign of the two cheetahs. He spotted a group of younger dragons playing with a small ball in the corner of the square, with what appeared to be their parents keeping a close eye on them off to the side.

The young dragon couldn't help but smile at the scene. It reminded him of his younger days. He had always been an adventurous youth, always wanting to explore the vast Realm outside of Draxis' walls. His father had encouraged his curiosity, but the sudden wolf attacks had forced Richter and the entire village to take a more serious demeanor. The village had been put under martial law, under the watchful eye of the guard forces. Peron was now the unofficial leader of the settlement, but the villagers trusted him. He was a far and wise Elder, almost always knowing how to get the village ready for the attacks and how to keep the villagers' lives as calm as possible.

Richter turned his attention away from the group and looked up at a public timekeeper. It was four hours past midday. The afternoon was waning, but he was not due to meet Hunter and Meadow for another hour. He had time to browse the shops.

Richter leaned away from the wall and searched the perimeter of the square, looking for any shops that peaked his interest. Warfang was the center of commerce and population for the entirety of the Realms. It was the wealthiest city in the world and had more trading areas than any other official settlement. The 'official' population, according to Volteer, was over two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, making it the largest settlement in all of the realms. It was truly a marvel that any city should aspire to be.

Richter continued to walk in a perimeter-like movement around the square, searching for a shop that he could buy something from. He had a few gems left for spending currency, and he wanted something in particular.

Before he had left Draxis, Tamara had given him a request for him while he was in the city, and he had promised to do it for her.

_Richter was looking around through his belongings, searching to see if he had missed anything that he needed in Warfang. He had already triple-checked all of his belongings, but he had always been tedious when he was leaving for a trip. Suddenly, a soft knock came from the door leading into his room. The Earth Dragon looked up in surprise, wondering who could be the cause of the disturbance._

_He carefully inched towards the door, being silent as possible. He slowly opened the door and looked out._

_An Ice Dragoness stood there, smiling at him._

_"Tamara." The Earth Dragon said as a smile washed over his face._

_The Ice Dragoness smiled even brighter. "Richter. May I come in?"_

_"Of course. I still have a few minutes before I need to leave."_

_Tamara nodded and entered the room._

_Richter shut the door softly behind him and was the first to speak. "So, what did you come up here for? We already said goodbye earlier."_

_Tamara looked around the room and was silent for a few moments, her smile quickly fading away. After a few long moments, she turned back to Richter and stared directly into his green eyes. "It wasn't enough, Richter."_

_This took Richter aback; he hadn't expected to hear this from Tamara before he left. He looked shocked for a moment, causing Tamara to giggle slightly and shake her head. "Cheetah got your tongue, Richter?"_

_Richter calmed down and laughed at the joke, making him relax and giving him a chance to think. "Why wasn't it enough, Tamara?"_

_"We've been friends for many years now, Richter. I think I deserve more than a simple 'goodbye' before I don't get to see you for a few weeks._

_Both dragons laughed and stared directly into each other's eyes for a moment. Both turned away, blushing._

_Richter was the first to speak up. "Well…I'm only to be gone for a few days, probably a week at the maximum. You don't need to worry and be like my mother was about this._

_Tamara laughed. "I'm NOT your mother. Just your best friend; which gives me the right to be concerned."_

_All of a sudden, there was another knock at the door. Richter quickly wheeled around and opened the door. Peron, his father, stood in the doorway and he was glaring at him. "You need to leave, Richter. Now."_

_Richter nodded and looked back around at Tamara. "Goodbye, Tamara. I'll miss you." He gave her a warm smile._

_The Ice Dragoness smiled back and approached the Earth Dragon, embracing him. Richter felt his cheeks warm at this and he hugged her back, pulling the Ice Dragoness close. "I'll miss you too, Richter. Promise me you'll get me something while you're in the Dragon City, all right?"_

_Richter nodded. "I promise."_

_She smiled and nodded. "See you next week Richter."_

_He smiled back. "See you soon."_

Coming back out of his trance, Richter smiled at the scene. She had always been a great friend to Richter. Despite their one-year age difference, they shared more in common than with any of the other dragons in Draxis. Tamara was shy towards new situations and had a shaky attitude towards other dragons, except for Richter. However, unlike Richter, she had no parents and wasn't trained in using her ice element in combat.

Her parents her apparently left the settlement when she was still a hatchling. The Ice Dragoness always said that she had no recollection of them ever being in her life. The only person that knew anything about his parents' mysterious disappearance was Belinda, but she had refused to talk about it; besides giving the answer of "It was for the best." every time the two dragons tried to discuss it with her. Richter knew there was more to it, but he had never been able to get through his mother's deception.

As a result of being the only Ice Dragoness in the village, Tamara was not educated in using her element. Richter was trying to educate her on basic melee combat to try and make up for this, but she still felt shunned by the rest of the village as a result. Richter had always tried to tell her differently, but she wouldn't hear it.

Richter continued to pace around the square, looking for something that the Ice Dragoness might like. He passed by another blacksmithing shop, but the tail reinforcement was gone from his mind. On the other side of him, a stall was selling fresh fruits and vegetables that, according to the mole's cries, were harvested the day before. Another stand was selling some sort of headgear called a 'hat'. Richter had never seen the piece of clothing before, but they were meant for moles, not dragons, apparently. He possessed a helmet, but the hats were more meant for decorative purposes.

Something out of the corner of his eye caught the Earth Dragon's attention. Richter turned, and his green eyes glimmered with excitement. A small store with a sign reading 'Laranda's' on the top was off to the left side of the street. Inside the store, a Fire Dragoness that looked a few years younger than Richter was speaking with a larger dragoness that stood behind a glass casing. Inside the casing were rows of sparkling necklaces, ornaments, baubles and other items of luxury that a dragon could use to decorate themself or their home.

Richter slowly walked into the store, allured by the bright lights shining off of the items laid out behind the glass. He carefully walked over to a display and observed its contents, looking for something that would catch the eye of Tamara.

"Hello there." A voice said from behind the Earth Dragon.

Richter spun around and found himself face to face with the white dragoness that he had noticed before he had walked in. The Fire Dragoness had already left.

"Good afternoon, ma'am." He said politely.

"My name is Laranda. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Richter shook his head. "No, just browsing. A friend back home wanted something from the Dragon City. I promised her that I'd look for something, and she loves necklaces."

The white dragoness nodded. "Of course. Is this friend a partner, or just a friend?"

Richter blushed slightly and turned away. "Just a friend, I think." He said quickly.

Laranda knew what this action meant and didn't prod him any further over it. "So, what did you have in mind? I have many products available that are suitable for another dragoness of your age. What is her element?"

Richter looked back at Laranda and cringed slightly. "She's an Ice Dragoness, but she's not trained in using it. She might take a gift like that the wrong way."

"Of course. What else is she interested in?"

Richter looked through the case and studied its contents. There were necklaces that were themed for each of the elements, but there were general ones as well. One bore the insignia of the Guardians, another with the symbol for Warfang, another simply was heart-shaped. Laranda waited patiently behind him, observing where the Earth Dragon looked at.

As he gazed over the display case, something caught his eye. "That one. She would love it." The Earth Dragon said quickly.

Laradna nodded and unlocked the case and removed the selected necklace.

She held it up in front of the Earth Dragon and he nodded. "That's definitely it. She would love it."

The necklace was a circular shape with two intersecting lines in the middle of the circle. On the perimeter of the circle, there were dots that marked the positions of where the lines intersected with circle. In the middle, where the two lines intersected, the insignia of the Ancestors was inscribed.

Laranda nodded. "The symbol of the Ancestors. A very wise choice, young one."

Richter nodded absent-mindedly. "She's very religious. More so than almost anyone else from where I come from. She's always looked to the Ancestors for guidance."

It was true. The Ice Dragoness was very religious. She had looked to the Ancestors as her parents since she had no family of her own to speak of. Sometimes, when she had free time, Tamara would simply pray and read the holy texts of the Ancestors, hoping for a sign one day from them. Richter hoped that the necklace would bring her even closer to the Ancestors themselves.

Richter thanked the white dragoness and paid for the gift with the last of his gems. He exited the shop and looked around in the palm of his paw, observing the sparkling beauty of the gift.

He smiled to himself. "_She'll love it."_

Richter headed back to the opposite side of the market and put the necklace away. He checked the public clock again, he had spent fifty-five minutes looking for the necklace; which meant Hunter and Meadow were due to meet him in five minutes.

The Earth Dragon sighed and looked around at the waning crowds around the market. Many of the citizens of the city were already heading home or towards the many restaurants in the city for dinner. Only a few patrons were left milling around the stands, it would be easier to spot the two cheetahs now.

Across the marketplace, two cheetahs approached a stand ad observed the armor on display. One had grey fur and the other was white. They weren't the cheetahs that he was looking for.

"Richter!" A voice shouted from the Earth Dragon's left. The voice was familiar to young dragon now. It belonged to Hunter.

The Earth Dragon turned and paused to see the two cheetahs walking from across the marketplace. Both cheetahs were grinning at him. Both parties approached each other and met in the center of the square.

"Hunter. Nice to see you." Richter then turned to Meadow and offered a paw. "Meadow. How are you, my friend?"

Meadow took the paw within his own and the two men shook. "Richter. How has your stay in Warfang been so far? Have you enjoyed the visit?" Meadow said, still smiling.

Richter nodded, grinning himself. "Of course. This city is amazing. There's just so much to see and do. I will have to return here some day."

Hunter nodded at the statement. "If your parents allow it, you should return when the Guardians open the academy inside the Temple. You would receive a better education and live in the greatest city in the Dragon Realms."

"Of course. It will be the first thing that I will discuss with them as soon as Terrador and I return to Draxis." Richter glanced at both cheetahs. "Now…as to the business at paw. Have you and your clan reached a decision on the leadership proposition from Terrador?"

Hunter closed his eyes and lowered his head to the ground. "It was a very difficult decision, Richter. We discussed it for three and a half hours. We were very divided. Some opposed it, they said I had a duty to our village. Others thought that it was an amazing offer and that I shouldn't turn it down. It took some heavy persuasion from Meadow to finally reach a unanimous decision. We are all lucky that he is such a good negotiator. "

"Did you come to a decision?"

Hunter looked back up at the Earth Dragon and smiled.

"I'm going to accept the position."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading Chapter 7! **

**I have a new poll up on my profile about the characters in this story. Please vote in it! It will help determine how the characters evolve later on.**

**Just wanted to give out a huge amount of thanks to Airchi and Zizima for working together to Beta read this chapter for me. They have both been a huge help and I can't thank them enough for helping me proofread this chapter. Airchi has an awesome new story, ****_Elemental Darkness_****, which is getting to a great spot in its plot. Go check it out if you enjoy my own story!**

**Again, thank you to everyone else who has reviewed and provided their own insight to this story.**

**_Best regards to you. -Unit Omicron_  
**


	8. Chapter 8: The Great Awakening

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 8: The Great Awakening**

Richter forced one eye closed from exhaustion. He was a skilled flyer, but his wings could only take so much more of these long trips that he now had to make on a weekly basis.

"Are you alright, nephew?" His uncle's voice came from his left side.

Richter turned and looked over his shoulder as the two Earth Dragons continued to soar through the sky. "I'm tired, Terrador. I think I need to rest for the night. I can't take flying anymore without some rest."

Terrador nodded and the two Earth Dragons began to lower themselves to the ground below.

The pair had left Warfang a few days prior and were just now getting close to Draxis' remote location. Terrador had left in the middle of the night, so as to not get swamped by the media about his sudden and mysterious departure from the Dragon City. Hunter had agreed to become the temporary Captain of the Guard, and Terrador had formally announced his temporary position to the public, so as to not cause confusion. A state of panic in the city as reconstruction efforts still went on was the last thing that Volteer and Cyril needed while the Master Guardian was away on business. Hunter had accepted the position formally, and his clan had erupted in thunderous applause and cheer. The city had been divided over the notion, but Terrador ultimately had the final decision. The public had to respect the Earth Dragon's council and decisions, whether they agreed or not.

Richter was pleased with the final decision from the Master Guardian. His uncle was right; Hunter was the best and most logical choice for a military leader in the Dragon City, despite his race. Richter had already come to trust and respect the man, not only as a leader, but as a friend.

The two Earth Dragons landed softly on the grassy hills below and looked around for a good place to camp for the night.

Terrador noticed a small stream further on ahead and he turned to Richter to speak. "Richter, there is a small body of water to the north and the forest to the west should provide enough cover and wood for a shelter and fire."

Richter nodded. "I stopped not too far from this location during my trip here from Draxis. That was before I found Hunter, of course."

Both Earth Dragons nodded at each other and walked towards the stream.

"We can set up a fire here. Richter, in my old age, I'm no longer the best hunter for food. I presume you have at least some experience in this art?" Terrador said as he looked down to his nephew.

Richter cringed slightly; he was not a very good hunter,despite his combat experience. Most wild animals simply run away from a fight and Richter was not the most agile dragon in existence. "I can try, Uncle, but to be honest with you, hunting isn't one of my strong suits."

Terrador chuckled and smiled down at his nephew. "Of course, Richter, but you're going to be more efficient than I ever would. Why don't you just give it a try? I'll gather some firewood and have a fire started by the time you get back."

Richter nodded slowly and the Earth Dragons separated, walking in different directions.

Richter approached the forest carefully and quickly climbed a tree, waiting for any creatures to pass by. After two and a half hours of waiting and hunting in the same area, Richter had skilfully caught two larger rabbits and deer that had happened to get caught by a root below the tree that he had situated himself in.

Richter walked back towards the area that Terrador had said he would be, and sure enough, the Earth Guardian had piled up a sizable pile of twigs and logs that he had somehow been able to light. The fire's light danced off of the trees in his surroundings, casting long shadows that almost seemed to sneak up on the Earth Dragon and latch onto him.

Terrador looked up and gave a half-enthusiastic smile. "Did you manage to catch anything?"

Richter gave a full-hearted grin and stepped away from his catches, hoping for some praise from his Uncle.

His Uncle looked upon the dead creatures and nodded. "Not bad, Richter, for a novice hunter, of course. I'm sure Peron will continue teaching you the other skills necessary to become even more efficient with that skill."

Richter nodded slowly. "Of course. Is hunting going to be taught at the academy?"

"Yes, Richter, it will. Why do you ask all of a sudden?"

Richter sighed and turned his head away from his Uncle. "Because...I want to join the Academy as soon as I am done here in Draxis."

Terrador was slightly surprised, but he smiled to himself. "That would be marvelous! It would be an honor and a privilege to have you at the Temple. Your father need not worry; you would be in good hands under our tutelage and care."

Richter sighed and nodded slowly. He tugged the dead carcasses of his catches over towards the large fire and set them down in front of the Master Guardian. "We should reach Draxis by tomorrow morning. Then we can finally put an end to these wolf attacks. Life can get back to the way it used to be, Uncle."

"Indeed, Richter." It will be my honor to help your warriors defend your home. And see my family again..." The Earth Guardian added softly.

"Belinda has never spoken to me about her family before...it might be because she thought you were dead as well, Uncle."

Terrador sighed. "I hope she recognizes me, at least. It has been many years since I last spoke with my family, as you know." the Master Guardian looked up slowly at his nephew. "Do you accept me, Richter?"

Richter looked at Terrador in surprise. "Of course I do, Terrador! You've been extremely helpful, despite the short time that we've known each other. You're risking your life just to save my village, even though you've never been there."

Terrador nodded slowly, and he smiled. "Thank you...nephew."

"No, Terrador. It is I that should be thanking you."

Terrador nodded but looked away, observing the darkened skies and the stars now shining overhead. "If we make it in time." He said.

"We will. The defenses were holding the last time I was there. We'll make it, Uncle. We have to."

The Master Guardian looked back to his Nephew and gave him an emotionless stare. "It's not us that I'm worried about, Richter." He said. "It's the troops that I've summoned to follow us to Draxis. They may be late."

Richter nodded, he had almost forgotten about the soldiers that Terrador had requested to follow the two Earth Dragons. Richter and Terrador had left ahead of the main force to scout out the city and make contact with Peron and inform the village of the news of Malefor's defeat. Draxis had been untouched by the war, and had no idea of the result of it as a result. The main force was to leave two days behind the two Earth Dragons, and would reinforce the Guards of Draxis and help drive out the feral wolves, once and for all.

The troops were commanded by the former Mole Engineer, Lieutenant Mason. Mason had been a hero during the Battle of Warfang, defending the main southern gate with only his unskilled Engineer Corps until reinforcements arrived. His Engineers Unit, nicknamed the 'Bridge Burners' had fought bravely and defended the main gate, despite most of the unit having little or no formal military training. They had suffered heavy casualties, with ninety percent of the unit killed or wounded. Mason was hailed as a hero around Warfang for his brilliant display of leadership. He had been promoted as a result of his exemplary leadership skills and now commanded the 2nd Platoon. The platoon consisted of 45 moles, but some had stayed behind in Warfang due to injuries from the Battle of Warfang a few weeks prior. The platoon now consisted of 30 moles, all of the individuals in the platoon had participated in the Battle of Warfang, and were all seasoned military veterans now.

They could take on anything that the Realms could through at them.

"The 2nd Platoon can do it, Terrador. Mason knows what he's doing." Richter said.

Terrador sighed. "I know, but I'm just worried about their pace, is all. Will they really get here two days behind us? Marching a small unit through the rough terrain around Warfang is a big chore."

Richter walked up to Terrador and smiled. Terrador looked up at his nephew, a slight quizzical look spread across his face. "Uncle; we can do it. I know we can."

Terrador smiled and nodded. "Maybe we can, Richter. Maybe we can."

* * *

Spyro awoke with a ringing noise echoing through his head. He groaned and shook his head violently, trying to cease the high-pitched shrill. The noise ceased and the purple dragon slowly stood up and observed his surroundings. He gasped in surprise as he took in the environment.

The local area had changed dramatically, once again. This didn't surprise Spyro as much as what the environment actually looked like now.

He had awoken sleeping on a cobblestone road-like surface. His surroundings were those of floating islands, dotted with many free-standing structures that looked ancient and abandoned. The structures had a very similar architectural like those that Spyro had observed in the Dragon City. Some of the structures in the distance had towering spires that rose above their square or circular shaped roofs. The spires seemed to touch the sky of the endless void that was above them; just like the towers in Warfang did. Most of the buildings were run-down, some even on the verge of collapsing into the bottomless pit below. Very few stood upright and did not seem to have any damage to their ancient stone exoskeletons.

The islands were positioned in such a way that made Spyro curious. One island led to another, almost forming a hovering pathway that could lead to something to the north of Spyro's current position. The purple dragon turned around and faced the opposite direction; finding that the buildings went south for as far as he could see as well. The 'pathway' of islands formed in the exact direction that Spyro had flown the night before, which perhaps led back to the Portal Structure.

"_If it's still there._" The purple dragon muttered to himself.

He was unsure himself. The environment had changed once again, and there WAS no way to be sure about the status of the portal. Not in this dream world.

The sky had also changed again. The blue tint and the sparsely clouded sky was gone. It had been replaced by the opposite type of weather. A gray overcast was strewn over the sky, with one singular cloud preventing sunlight from reaching the ground. The surface looked darker than it should, but there were no shadows.

No places to hide.

The buildings looked as if they had been abandoned for years. There were no signs of life around Spyro, once again.

"_Have to keep my guard up._" He thought.

The purple dragon stretched out his wings and began hovering above the island that he had awoken on. It was the same shape and size of the platform where he had battled the Dark Cynder, but it looked much different. The entire space was covered in cobblestone, not the dark stone that made up the platform before the night. On the left hand side, facing south, was a small hut-like structure that had apparently bent burnt to the ground, or it had collapsed. Two of the walls were largely intact, but the walls facing south and east were caved in, causing half of the roof to cave into the broken structure as well.

Spyro shook his head. "_Why is my head portraying a place like this now_?"

The area was familiar enough. Spyro and Cynder had passed through an area just like it when they had traveled above the volcano to defeat Malefor. Those Floating Islands had been overrun with Grublins, though. This area had no sign of any living creature.

It still felt wrong to the young dragon, but he couldn't figure out why.

He continued to hover above the island with the collapsed hut on the side and began searching for anything of value that could aid the purple dragon on his journey. There was nothing besides the collapsed hut on the island; no material possessions of any kind were present. Spyro shook his head and turned north, looking for any sign of his apparent destination. The purple dragon narrowed his eyes as he noticed something along the horizon of his vision.

Some two or three miles away from Spyro's location was a large temple-like structure on top of a floating island that looked at least twice as large as the others around Spyro. The temple was a circular shape and had a great dome over the top of it, as a roof. Towering spires dotted the top of the structure, almost making it look like a palace instead of a temple. However, the spires were not the only thing rising out of the roof.

In the very center of the dome, a large ray of purple energy was shooting out and striking the sky above. The beam was controlled and focused, looking like a perfect cylinder as it rose out of the dome and struck the sky above. As the powerful beam of what appeared to be Convexity energy contacted with the sky above, it formed a swirling effect among the clouds. A dark shadow was at the heart of this hurricane looking formation, and the beam went straight through it, almost looking as if it passed into another realm.

The temple looking structure was the only meaningful point of interest to the north of the purple dragon.

"_That has to be it_."

Spyro spread his wings and soared to the closest island to the north, hoping to use the updraft caused by the void to reach his destination quicker. This floating island had a portion of a ruined wall along it that looked much like the walls that bordered Warfang. Even part of a golden dragon cannon was in the center, looking much like the cannon that Spyro and Cynder had protected during the Battle of the Dragon City a few weeks earlier. Unused ammunition sat on either side of the now-dilapidated cannon, ready to be fired away. The sight of the familiar weapon shook Spyro to the core, but the purple dragon shrugged it off and continued northwards, hopping from island to island towards the temple in the distance.

As he passed over the islands, each one portrayed a different scene from his journeys to defeat Malefor with Cynder and Sparx. The floating island after the island with the wall contained another familiar setting to Spyro, the ruined cages of the Atlawa from Tall Plains. Sparx would be reminiscing about the faithful llama people, if he were here. He hadn't shut up about the god-like treatment that he had received from the llama people for three weeks after Spyro had returned from the Realm of Convexity. The purple dragon could almost hear the little golden dragonfly making his ear fall off from the constant references of his "ascension to godhood".

Spyro chuckled and shook his head. The cage that was in the center of the island was slightly larger than the rest; it looked exactly like the cage that had held the leader of the Atlawas, Kane. Kane had been stuck-up and overconfident when he had first spoken to Spyro, but he had grown to accept the purple dragon after the rescuing of Cyril from the Atlawa's shrine. Spyro had to wonder, how were Kane and the Atlawas doing now?

The cages were small, except for Kane's. There were at least a dozen of them, at first glance to Spyro. They were either opened and withered away or completely collapsed. The collapsed cages completely fell over on the ground; they were lying dormant and unmoving.

Spyro shook his head and continued his island-hopping campaign. He ignored the rest of the island's structures, not wanting to take in anymore memories. The flight from the Atlawa Cages' island to the island of the temple took less than an hour for Spyro, but he was exhausted from the constant flying that he was forced to do. The purple dragon set himself down on the edge of the temple island and tried, desperately, to regain his breath. As the purple dragon slowly filtered oxygen back into his lungs, he looked up at the swirling dark cloud above his head, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. He noticed something that seemed to be circling around the purple ray of Convexity energy.

The figure was dark, but it had the distinct outline of a dragon. It was difficult from this distance to see the figure's specific characteristics, but Spyro could tell that it was a dragon. It was jet black and had blackened wings, but Spyro had no way of telling if the dragon was a friend or foe. The purple dragon inched forward up the steps of the temple, but was careful to keep at least one eye trained on the black figure at all times.

The stairs leading up to the towering door of the temple were large and half destroyed. Entire parts of the grand staircase had collapsed entirely, falling out into the island below. Spyro had to jump and actually hover over some places in the ruined staircase. After a thirty minute trek up the long staircase, Spyro finally reached the top and he walked slowly up to the large doors that led into the temple, panting all the while from the long climb.

The purple dragon looked up at the large doors. They looked much like the doors that provided entry to the now-destroyed Dragon Temple in the Swamp. This revelation wasn't surprising in the least to Spyro, he had already noticed the structure's familiar features, he was more worried about the figure that he had seen above the temple. The purple dragon shoved the thought out from his mind and he raised a paw to one of the door's great hinges. He slowly turned it and entered the grand foyer, the large entry giving a loud creaking sound as he did it. Before closing the entryway, Spyro gave a quick look behind his back, making sure that no one had seen him or was following him. There was no one behind him. After making sure of this, the purple dragon closed the door and walked slowly towards the stairs on the other side of the room that led towards the apparent Guardians' chambers.

Little did the purple savior know, he was being watched.

Again.

A figure darted from Spyro's vision as he looked behind and outside of the temple. The purple dragon did not notice the figure and he closed the great doors behind him. The figure cursed to itself for not attacking the dragon earlier, but it had had no chance in getting the drop on Spyro. The purple dragon had moved very quickly across the floating islands, much faster than the figure had anticipated. It was surprised that the purple dragon was so determined to escape his own dream world, but it was understandable from Spyro's point of view.

The figure had used most of its energy to fly ahead of the purple dragon in an attempt to cut him off above the temple, but the purple dragon had entered from the ground, not through the air as predicted. The figure silently cursed itself again. It had thought that through his knowledge of the purple dragon that he would be able to outsmart him, but this was not the case.

Now, the dark figure was struggling to keep up with the young dragon. Its darker violet scales were shimmering with sweat and its darker magenta underbelly was still healing from its previous battle with Spyro.

The Dark Cynder had returned, but the fight was only beginning.

Spyro ascended up the long and spiraling staircase towards what had to be the Guardians' chambers. He was not familiar with this temple's design; it looked more modern and urban than the temple in the Swamp had been. Either the temple had been rebuilt in Warfang during his time away from the Dragon City or his head was just making up another alternate version of the Dragon Temple. This dream world was unpredictable and there was no sure-fire way to be certain about anything that the purple dragon was seeing. He couldn't trust anything here, except for maybe Emuleta.

The staircase ended in a large room that most likely acted as a waiting room to see the Guardians. Two large doors at the center of the room led into another great room, which Spyro guessed was the room that he was looking for. There was a small sign on top of the door the read 'Gua-ia-'- Ch-r-'. Most of the sign was illegible due to ageor that the dreamscape did not allow it to be shown.

Spyro approached the door and pulled the great handle slowly, using all of his force to make the door open. As the purple dragon opened the creaking door, he felt his entire body be flung backwards. Spyro shot backwards and hit the back wall of the waiting room outside of the Guardians' Chambers. He hit the ruined stone wall hard and fell to the floor.

The purple dragon cried out in pain and felt at least one of his bones break in his tail. He raised his weak head off of the floor to see what had fired the shot.

A dark figure walked out of the doorway, grinning with pleasure from the successful hit on the purple dragon. Spyro growled in anger at the individual standing in front of him.

"Dark Cynder..." Spyro said through his sharp pain.

The dark spirit put a mocking paw over its heart. "Oh..I'm pleased that you remember me after our last encounter. It would have been SUCH a pain if you had forgotten about me." It smiled in delight, seeking to mock the purple dragon.

Spyro growled again at the dark spirit. "Let me pass. I have a job to do."

The Dark Cynder laughed maniacally. "You know that won't work, right? If you win, we'll be stuck in this blasted Realm for all eternity. That can't happen, of course."

"It WILL happen. Cynder and I will beat you and then we'll finally be able to live our lives in peace, together."

"You'll never be able to escape our influence, no matter how hard you try to resist. We're a part of you now, no matter if you're willing to admit it or not. You might as well just give up now, Spyro. We've already beaten Cynder and you have nowhere left to run."

"You're lying. Cynder would never-"

"Oh, but she would. Or do you forget her past roles with Malefor?"

"SHE'S CHANGED!"

The Dark Cynder yelped in surprise but quickly regained its composure. "Believe what you want to believe Spyro; it doesn't change the facts. Once you die, we'll take control of you."

"Not if I can help it!"

Spyro shot off of the floor and released a quick fireball at the Dark Cynder's slim figure. It rolled to the right and fired a poison shot. Spyro flapped his wings and soared over top of the quick shot of poison, narrowly dodging it. He soared over to the Dark Cynder and planted his quickly landed on its back, causing the dark spirit to collapse to the floor. The Dark Cynder growled and turned its neck, trying to use its horns and claws to get the purple dragon off of its back. The attempt was futile, as Spyro dodged by lowering his head down to the dark spirit's neck, sinking his teeth deep into the soft flesh beneath its scales. The spirit cried out in pain and arched its back upwards, sending Spyro flying and skidding across the cobblestone floor.

"You bastard...fighting dirty." The dark spirit said through clenched teeth. Black-colored blood was coming out the wound. It was a large gash. Spyro had pierced the jugular vein in the spirit's neck. If it didn't heal the wound quickly, the loss of blood would cause it to lose consciousness.

The spirit's eyes began to glow red. It let loose a large growl and flew straight upwards. Before it hit the ceiling, it growled and issued a final warning. "Enjoy your victory. We'll be waiting." The spirit then flew straight through a small hole in the ceiling and disappeared once again.

"Coward. The REAL Cynder would've stayed and fought." Spyro said through his own clenched teeth. He raised his left paw off of his chest. The wound that he had received only deepened the one from the previous conflict with the Dark Cynder. Even more of his normally golden scales had melted away, revealing more of the vulnerable body beneath. He continued to clutch the wound, hoping to stop the steady flow of crimson colored blood that oozed away from the burn marks.

Spyro limped to the door, attempting to balance on three legs. It was difficult, but the purple dragon could manage. He opened the door with his front right paw, having to resort to being bipedal for a moment to reach the great handle. After reopening the great door, Spyro fell back onto his three paws, causing another shot of pain to sear up his left leg. Spyro entered the Chambers, a determined look on his face being shattered by the sudden change in his surroundings.

The great purple beam sat in the center of the room, charged with energy and hurled upwards, towards the ceiling and the sky above. The beam was coming out of a large, circular platform at the center of the room, which looked much like the Pool of Visions that Spyro had seen Ignitus and Terrador use during his stay at the old Dragon Temple. The rest of the room was made up of rock and stone, not the refined granite and cobblestone that the outside had been. The room looked much like the Well of Souls under the Mountain of Malefor; especially pertaining to Gaul's throne room. The towering statues of Malefor were present; large and grand to present the evil dragon in a glorified state. Spyro glared at the largest one, sitting in the center of the room, and quickly looked away, growling in disgust.

The purple dragon continued to the beam and stopped. At first glance, only the beam was present, but at a closer glance, Spyro noticed something on the inside of the beam. He squinted, trying to get a better look at the hovering object in the center of the stream of Convexity.

The object was a small crystal that almost seemed to glow itself with the energy of the beam that surrounded it. It looked much like the power gems that were scattered around the Realms, but this one was only glowing purple, not the multiple-colors that the crystals normally did. Spyro was intrigued by the glowing gem, and he approached the beam of Convexity, inching closer and closer to the powerful ray of energy.

As the purple dragon came within ten meters of the beam, he felt an energizing surge of power take hold of his body. The power coursed through Spyro's body, taking control of his body and mind. The crystal somehow focused the Convexity energy already in Spyro's body, making him even more powerful. Purple shadows and energy began to dance off of his scales and Spyro shut his eyes closed. When they were reopened, the spheres of amethyst had turned completely white. Spyro felt his body leave the ground and rise several feet into the air.

As he remained suspended in the air, Spyro hovered towards the crystal. His sleek figure was propelled by ancient magics unknown to the purple dragon. As he approached the crystal, the purple aura that surrounded him grew even brighter.

The purple dragon slowly extended one paw to reach out and touch the crystal. As the limb was extended closer and closer to the floating gem, the power inside of the dragon's body only grew.

As the paw came into contact with the crystal, Spyro's vision suddenly faded into darkness. He felt his form crumple to the ground and land hard on the stone floor below. The last of his consciousness left him and the purple legend faded into a deep state of unconsciousness.

* * *

Spyro quickly opened his eyes as he recovered from the state of darkness that had overtaken him. He looked around frantically, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. He felt a warm and soft surface below under his head that did not feel at all like the cold and hard cobblestone floor he had landed on earlier. The purple dragon slowly lifted his head, a sharp pain radiating up and down his neck as he did it; the pain most likely being a result of being unconscious for a long period of time. Spyro raised his heavy and painful head and looked below him. A pillow had been situated under it.

"_Wait, what? Who put that there_?" He thought to himself.

Spyro darted his eyes around, trying to take in where he was. He was lying in a medium-sized bed, looking about the size of a queen. The blankets that were draped over the rest of his resting frame were made of a soft silk material, feeling much more comfortable than the cobblestone had.

The room around him was dark, but the walls were clearly made of a thick stone material that looked very familiar to the purple dragon. The room that he was in was larger than his old quarters in the old Dragon Temple in the Swamp. There were two doors, both were closed, but the one on the far right side of the room had light coming in from under it; that one clearly lead to the outdoors. The rest of the room was mostly bare, only a small dresser, a wall bound mirror, a small divider for privacy and a few other small pieces of furniture decorated the room. Everything in the room was in perfect shape; nothing was destroyed.

Spyro glanced around in confusion and slowly tried to raise himself out of the bed. He winced in pain, but it was from not moving for an extended period of time. The purple dragon looked down at his golden underbelly and gasped in surprise.

The poison burn that the Dark Cynder had given him was gone. There was no mark, no wound, nothing. The scales were fully healed as well; that process normally took...5 to 6 weeks.

Spyro yelped and rushed to the door that he thought led outside and quickly opened it. A bright light filled his eyes and he had to squint his amethyst eyes to take in his surroundings. His maw fell open as he observed what stood out before him.

"Warfang..."

The city was in perfect condition. The skyscrapers were upright and still touching the sky. Buildings were not rubble, but standing tall and proud. Spyro could hear the cries and murmurs of a market just below him. Creatures of all species walked around the streets, going about their daily business. Warfang...was alive and well.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging noise and loud 'CRASH!' that came from behind the purple dragon. Spyro quickly spun around and took up a defensive posture, hoping to catch the intruder off guard. However, as he observed the source of the noise, his eyes opened wide and his maw dropped even lower.

An elegant dish that must have been filled with water lied at the feet of a large dragon. The dragon's scales were the color of ice, and it had purple and sky blue features around its body as well. Its eyes were wide open and its maw dropped as well. Only one dragon in the realms had an appearance like that.

"C...Cyril!"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading Chapter 8, friends! This chapter was SO much fun to type...finally getting to a great place in the story, right? The next two chapters will be HUGE for the plot, so stay tuned for those! I thought it was finally time to get this story moving a bit more. XP**

**Just wanted to thank Darkness Oversoul this time around for her 100+ PMs to me. She has given me some great advice about the overall feeling of the story, its spiritual side, its characters and many other deeper elements for this chapter. I couldn't ask for a better mentor. If you want to read a truly amazing and deep Spyro Fic, go read DO's new story, _Uncharted_. It's a great story so far. Thank you again, DO!**

**Also, a big thanks goes out to my awesome Beta readers from halfway across the world, Airchi and Melody. Thank you for correcting my limitless mistakes in this chapter!**

**As always, I'm still looking for a young and talented artist to help to design a cover for this story. If anyone wants to try drawing Richter and Tamara for me, please let me know! I'd be happy to discuss the details with you.**

**Finally, don't forget to vote in the poll on my main profile! Thanks!**

**Thanks again for reading Chapter 8 of _Eternal Slumber_. Chapter 9 and 10 will be HUGE, so stick around for that!**

_**Best regards. -Unit Omicron**_


	9. Chapter 9: Up to Speed

**A/N: Update 6-16-13: I removed the swearing from this chapter due to a few complaints from readers.**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 9: Up to Speed**

A young dragoness opened her eyes and peered out from the confines of her dark sleep. She was lying in a medium sized bed in a medium sized room on the second floor of a medium sized house. The dragoness yawned slightly and moved her four paws off of the bed and plopped down onto the cold stone floor below. She then proceeded to walk to the small dresser on the right hand side of the room and look into the mirror that hung on the wall.

The dragoness smiled to herself. Despite sleeping for over twelve hours, according to the small timekeeper on the dresser, she still looked as good as she had the night before. Her light blue scales were still in their well-polished condition and her snow-colored underbelly still shined in the bright light that came from the window looking outside. Her white horns and claws were still trimmed and sharpened from her last trip and her sky blue tail snaked around and ended in that familiar, sharpened pike blade that had been there since her birth. The only blemish on the dragoness' body was the small scar that ran from just under her neck down to the middle section of her underbelly. She shivered slightly and put the the wound from her mind.

Tamara's day was finally starting off right.

A soft knock came from the door. "Tamara? Are you alright? You've been in there for thirteen hours...I just wanted to check on you."

Tamara sighed and went to open the door. She turned the handle and peered out through a tiny crack between the wall and the door. A large green dragoness stood in the doorway, a look of relief washing over her face. "Good, you're alright. I'm sorry for intruding, it's just that Peron and I were so worried..."

Tamara opened the door wide and smiled. "I'm okay, Belinda. Just had a long night, I guess. I was awake all night...thinking."

Belinda nodded her head. "About what?"

Tamara lowered her head. "Richter." She said softly.

Belinda smiled to herself and placed a comforting paw on her shoulder, causing Tamara to look up. She brought the ice dragoness' head up slowly to look straight into her eyes. "I understand your concern, but I promise you, Richter can take care of himself. His father and I wouldn't have sent him on the trip if we didn't think that he was capable now of doing this kind of thing on his own."

Tamara nodded. "I know. It's just that...he's my best friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to him, is all."

"I understand, but you don't need to worry. I'm sure Richter will be back soon."

"I know. I just worry too much sometimes. By the way, Belinda...thank you again for letting me use your home for these past few weeks. I really appreciate it." Tamara said as she bowed her head lowly.

Belinda laughed slightly. "Tamara, you don't need to thank us. We are happy to do this for you. You are, maybe unofficially, a part of this family, even if you're not one of our bloodline. You and Richter have been friends for many years and we are glad to provide you a place to rest your wings while you search for a home for yourself."

Tamara smiled and nodded her head. "Thank you, Belinda...for everything."

Belinda nodded and turned back around towards the stairs and walked back down to the first floor. The green Earth Dragoness had been a friend of Tamara's ever since they had met, despite their large age difference. Belinda had always said that Tamara acted 'mature beyond your years.' The family almost thought of her as one of their own, because of her close relationship with Richter.

Richter...he had been gone for two weeks now and hadn't done as much as send a letter, message or any other type of communication. Tamara was worried. Richter had said that he would be back within two weeks, and that threshold had passed the day before. Tamara was always worried about her friend, if he was on a long trip, or if he was fighting the wolves or any other dangerous task. She cared for the Earth Dragon, that was certain.

The ice dragoness sighed and turned around, closing the door behind her. She walked on her fourpaws towards the small door on the other side of the room that led out to a balcony. Tamara opened the small entryway and stepped out onto thebalcony and looked out on the village below.

Draxis was a small village, the population being slightly under one hundred creatures. Dragons, cheetahs, moles and the uncommon bipedaled wolf species lived in the small confines of the village. The bipedaled wolves had come under much scrutiny lately as their close cousins, the feral wolves, had been raiding the small village for the past few weeks. What the feral wolves lacked in intelligence and strategy, they made up for in brute strength and numbers. The Guards of the village fought valiantly, but whenever they killed a wolf, two more would take its place. Their numbers never seemed to dwindle, while the Guards were cut down every raid, one by one. Almost half of the village had been pressed into active duty under the command of Peron, but it had not been enough. Parts of the village had been lost entirely to the wolf raids and most of the village's small amount of wealth had been stolen. The one small market in the city mostly ran on a barbaric barter system now, with creatures trading items of value for basic necessities. It was unfortunate, but Peron constantly told the citizens of the village that it was only temporary. There was no way to be sure, but Peron was a skilled leader, not only in wartime, but in peacetime as well. He certainly knew how to manage the small village.

Tamara sighed and leaned up against the railing around the balcony. There was only one thing on the young dragoness' mind.

Richter.

She hadn't stopped thinking about the Earth Dragon and his words to her before he had left for the Dragon City. He had promised to come back and to bring something back for her from the Dragon City. He had smiled, blushed and fumbled over his words when she had come to his room to say goodbye.

"___He's so cute like that._" Tamara thought as she giggled to herself.

She knew that the Earth Dragon had feelings for her, but he was too nervous around her to admit it. It had been fun for the ice dragoness, knowing what she knew about him. She had dropped subtle hints to him over it, but Richter was too blind at times to notice. Tamara giggled again at this thought and shook her head. She blushed to herself; she shared the same feelings for Richter that he did for her, but she was one of the shyest dragonesses in the Realms. She had a hard time talking to anyone else besides Richter and his family, so talking to Richter about her feelings was out of the question for the young ice dragoness. She was content for now just to be friends with the Earth Dragon, until the right moment when she could finally tell him.

Tamara smiled and looked up at the horizon. It was morning and the sun that shone down on the Dragon Realms was just starting to show itself above the mountains in the distance. The sky above the small village was a bright purple hue, with long streaks of red, orange and yellow dancing across the endless blue void. Light clouds hovered below the bottom of the sky and cast small shadows on the rolling hills around the tiny village.

It was beautiful.

Tamara stared at the endless landscape before her. This was the best view in the entire village, you could see for miles in every direction. The ice dragoness could hear the birds singing from the trees and few buildings around Draxis, the stalls from the marketplace down the street and...cries from the guards? Why were the guards shouting this early in the morning? Tamara leaned a bit further over the railing, craning her neck to hear what the guards on the wall below were shouting to one another.

"What did you say?" One of the guards further down the wall shouted.

"Two forms approaching from the northwest!" The other said.

Tamara, out of curiosity, craned her neck to look to where the second guard was pointing. Sure enough, two figures were approaching from that direction, flying extremely fast. Tamara squinted as she tried to make out the figures that were flying in. Both were dragons by the look of their body shape, and both had darker green scales.

"_Earth Dragons._" Tamara said to herself.

One was larger than the other and had darker green scales, as well as having brown membranes on his wings. The bigger one looked much older than the smaller dragon that flew on its side. The smaller dragon had lighter green scales and black membranes on its wings. The wings were much larger than most dragons'. Tamara gasped as she realized who the smaller dragon actually was.

"Richter!"

* * *

Richter smiled as the familiar setting of the village of Draxis came into view. The village was situated in a small valley, and sat up against the Draxis River, from which the tiny settlement got its name. The river flowed east and west, then flowing southwards again just south of the Dragon City where it finally met the sea. The river began only thirty miles from Draxis in Lake Myore, the largest body of water in the Realms. The village was in a remote location, cut off from the rest of the Realms; Warfang was the closest city, and it was still a four to five days flight for most dragons.

Richter looked to his right side and looked at the large Earth Dragon flying beside him. His Uncle was clearly taking in the sight of the beautiful settlement, but his facial expression gave nothing away. The Master Guardian soon noticed Richter staring at him and he turned and smiled at his nephew. "We're here, Richter."

Richter nodded at Terrador and continued to smile. "Glad to see that the village is still in one piece."

"Where are we headed now?"

"To the main gate. The guardsmen all know me on a familiar basis, so it should be easy getting into the village. After that, we're headed to my home. We need to talk to Peron and...Belinda before we do anything else."

Terrador was not used to taking orders from a young dragon, but he trusted Richter's judgment and his experience inside the tiny village.

"Of course, Richter. Lead on."

Richter nodded and soared down towards the ground, with his Uncle following close behind. The two Earth Dragons touched down on the soft soil below and walked slowly towards the gate. The walls around the city were heavily reinforced and the gate was surrounded by several stockades to block intruders into the village. A guardsmen on top of the medium-sized wall ran up to the wall above the gate and called down with a harsh voice. "Halt! State your name and business inside Draxis, or turn around and leave at once."

Richter stepped forward, a large grin on his face. "Tyron...I thought you would know me by now!"

The guardsmen, a brightly colored dragon, gave himself a small slap on the forehead. "Of course, Richter. But, you know standard procedure!"

Both dragons shared a laugh and then the dragon on the wall spoke again. "Who is your large friend there?"

Terrador stepped forward and lowered his head in a bowing motion. " My name is Terrador, Master Guardian of the three Guardians of Warfang, It's an honor, Tyron."

Tyron's maw fell open. **"**Terrador, sir...the honor is...uh...all mine.**"**The dragon bowed himself. "I'll...uh...open the gate at once!" The dragon took off running and opened the gate from an adjacent tower.

Richter motioned with his paw for the large dragon to follow him. He smiled back at his uncle. "I'm impressed, Terrador. That's the first time I've ever heard someone shut his mouth before."

Terrador let out a small chuckle and shook his head. He did not respond, however.

The two Earth Dragons walked slowly into the village. The soft dirt quickly changed into cobblestone as they entered the main village. Creatures off all kinds stared at the two dragons as they passed by, some coming up to Richter and thanking him, others just stood on the edge of the road and murmured amongst themselves. The village itself was small, probably only being two miles at its largest. The structures themselves were largely made of loosely packed stone or basic wood housing. The moles in the Dragon City would be impressed by the settlement's resourcefulness.

The small, brightly colored dragon from the gate ran up behind the two Earth Dragon and almost tackled Richter to the ground in excitement.

Richter laughed and shoved the young dragon off of himself. "Tyron, do you have to do that EVERY time I get back from a trip?"

Tyron just laughed and raised his paw up to Richter's and the two dragons pounded eachothers paw in a brotherly fashion. "It's good to have you back, my friend."

Tyron was a small dragon, looking a bit smaller than Richter, despite the two dragons being the same age of sixteen. His light scarlet colored scales shown out in the sunlight and his golden underbelly almost caused a glare that caused a light aura to surround the young dragon. His red and golden scaled wings were folded behind his back in a comfortable fashion, as was his tail and its circular like blade. Tyron was a skilled fire dragon in combat and was once of the best warriors in the village. He was impulsive by his nature and always rushed into many situations. He had a fiery attitude, to say the least. The dragon was always the life of the party and was known by everyone in Draxis for being the first to show up and the last to leave. He had been a good friend of Richter's for many years; the Earth Dragon had almost known Tyron as long as Tamara.

"It's good to BE back. How is everyone?" Richter said, a wide grin still on his face.

Tyron chuckled and stared off into space for a moment. "Well, your parents have been worried sick ever since you left, Nerie and I have been playing soldier and.." Tyron looked back at Richter and gave him a mocking wink. "Your Tamara has been asking about you ever since you left."

Richter gave the fire dragon a slight shove. "We'll talk about that LATER. Got it?"

Tyron laughed and gave his friend a mocking salute. "Yes sir, Captain Richter, sir!" He waved with his right paw and ran off down another side street.

Richter waved his paw and turned back to Terrador who was smiling and looking off into space. Richter gave his Uncle a slight nudge and motioned again for the Master Guardian to follow him. Terrador nodded and the pair of dragons set off down the main street of the village. The two passed by the small main marketplace and by one of the two blacksmiths in the city. Richter turned down a familiar street and continued to walk up a slight slope towards his own home. The home was largely made of stone and sat on a slight incline towards the west side of the village. The house itself was of an average size by Warfang's standards, but in Draxis, it was the largest structure in the village. The home featured two floors and a small underground section. There were five dormitories to the home and several wash rooms for dragons and other visiting creatures. Both the matriarch and the patriarch of the family lived on the upper floor, as well as Richter in a separate room.

The two Earth Dragons walked slowly up the slight incline and Richter moved up to the medium-sized door and rasped lightly four times. He stepped back and waited for a response from the inside. A series of loud, booming footsteps thundered into Richter's ears from the interior of the home and the door opened slowly with a familiar 'CREEK' echoing through the entry hall.

A familiar red dragon stood in the doorway. The dragon smiled and spoke through his deep baritone voice. "Richter. Welcome home."

Richter approached his father and embraced him. "Thank you, father. It's good to be home."

The older fire dragon looked up and stared at the other Earth Dragon in front of him. "Who is your compatriot here, Richter?"

Richter stepped away from the fire dragon and smiled. "Father, this is the Master Guardian of the Guardians of Warfang, Terrador."

Peron's eyes opened wide and the expression on his face became stone cold. He opened his maw to speak, but no words came out.

Terrador noticed this action and bowed slowly. "It has been a long time, Peron. I hope that the years have treated you well."

Peron's maw finally opened into a bright smile. "Terrador...Master Guardian?" He shook his head. "Never thought I'd live to see the day. Welcome to Draxis, old friend. Why did you come with Richter? We only requested troops, not the Master Guardian himself. You are still welcome, of course, though. This is just...unexpected."

Terrador nodded. "After conversing with Richter, I felt like it was my duty to come here. There is...something I need to discuss with you and your family, Peron. It is of great importance."

Peron was slightly confused, but he trusted the Master Guardian's words. "Of course. Please, come in. We can all sit down and discuss this whole affair.

Both of the Earth Dragons glanced at each other and then nodded simultaneously at the Fire Dragon.

The trio of dragons walked through the entry hall and strode into a large sitting area. There were several rugs spread out around the room where most dragons could lay down and be comfortable for a conversation. The room itself had a large amount of natural light filtering in from its plentiful windows. The room was also decorated with many works of art, ranging from landscapes to pictures of the family. There was also a small altar on the right side of the room, with a statue dedicated to the glory of the Ancestors. Richter lied down next to Terrador and at his uncle and smiled. Terrador returned the favor and waited for Peron and the others to enter the room.

"RICHTER!" A voice suddenly rang out from the next room. Before the young Earth Dragon had time to react, a huge wave of force hit from behind, causing him to fall over once again.

Richter looked up on his back only to find himself face to face with a pair of glowing sky-blue eyes. A young dragoness was staring him in the face and had a huge grin on her face. Richter's maw formed into a smile. "Tamara." He said brightly as he laughed and stared into Tamara's eyes for a moment. Both dragons looked away for a moment, slight blushes on both of their faces.

Tamara returned her gaze after the red color in her cheeks had faded and she smiled again, bouncing with excitement on top of Richter. "You're finally back! I...WE were so worried while you were gone!"

Richter grinned again. "Just met a few people and learned some things. Warfang is amazing, you have to come with me the next time that I have to go!"

Tamara smiled back and slowly got off of the Earth Dragon, letting him stand off of the floor. "I'm sure I'll hear about it."

Richter chuckled. "Of course you will." Then he remembered something. "Oh, Tamara!"

"What, Richter?"

"I keep my promises." He smiled lightly and gazed into Tamara's confused blue eyes again.

A few moments after he finished the statement, the orbs of blue on Tamara's face lit up, as did her entire facial expression. "Oh! That's what you mean!" She then smiled at Richter. "So, what did you get me?"

Richter kept grinning and he took out the necklace. Before he showed it to Tamara he spoke lightly. "Close your eyes."

Tamara's eyes closed shut and Richter brought the symbol of the Ancestors up between her eyes and let it dangle off of its metal chain slightly. The Earth Dragon admired her for a moment before shaking off the thought and whispering softly. "Now, open."

Tamara's eyes opened and she gasped in surprise at the jewelry hanging in front of her. Her maw formed into the brightest smile that Richter had ever seen and she flung herself onto Richter's frame, causing him to stagger once more, but not fall.

She embraced him tightly and the Earth Dragon blushed heavily. Tamara's head came to rest on the Richter's left shoulder. Tears filled up the ice dragoness' eyes, but they weren't because she was sad.

"Richter, it's perfect! I can't believe you'd get something like this for me!"

Richter felt his cheeks warm up even further, but he pulled the ice dragoness further into the embrace for a moment before he tore himself away, as painful as it was. "_I really wish that those hugs could last forever. She's just so...warm."_

Richter smiled to himself and spoke up as Tamara returned to standing in front of his vision. "I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure..."

"Yes you were. You know me better than anyone else."

Richter blushed and looked down at the ground, suddenly interested in his pearly white claws. Tamara giggled and sat down on a rug right next to Richter's. She smiled at him once more before turning her attention to the Earth Dragon in the room. "Master Terrador, I presume?" The ice dragoness bowed her head sightly. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Tamara. I'm Richter's best friend."

Terrador bowed his head in return. "The honor is all mine, Tamara."

All three dragons left in the room returned to silence as they waited for Peron to summon the remaining member of the family. After a few minutes passed without any sign of either dragon, Richter finally spoke up. "What could be taking them so long?" Both of the other dragons shrugged. No one had any ideas for the older dragons' absence.

After another few minutes of silence, Richter stood up. "I'm going to go look for them. I'll be right ba-"

"That won't be necessary, Richter."

Richter spun around and came face to face with a large green dragon. He smiled warmly. "Hi, Mom."

Belinda smiled back and patted Richter on the shoulder. "Welcome back, my son. I'm glad to see that you're returned to us without any injuries."

"I told you that he wouldn't." Peron's voice suddenly boomed from behind Belinda.

Belinda nodded. "I know...I know...don't give me grief."

Peron chuckled lightly and moved to take a rug at the head of the circular formation. Belinda walked around the circle to take a seat to take a seat next to Peron before she stopped dead in her tracks and her facial expression turned stone cold. Her eyes were wide open, in shock as she stared at something in the center of the room.

"Terrador."

* * *

Spyro growled lowly and erected his body into a defensive posture. "You don't fool me, Dark Spirit!"

Cyril's eyes opened up even wider. "Spyro, it's Cyril, the Ice Guardian! I'm not a dark spirit, or whatever you just said..."

Spyro's eyes narrowed. Cyril was acting like himself, he looked the same and Warfang looked alright..."_Am I really awake?"_ The purple dragon thought to himself.

As if reading his thoughts, Cyril spoke up again. "Spyro, this is the real world. You are in the Dragon Realms. It has been a month since you defeated Malefor."

Spyro's memory banks clicked and thoughts flew through his head. "_One month...One month? I WAS ASLEEP FOR A MONTH?"_ Spyro looked back up and stared coldly at Cyril. "If you're lying or if you falter, I won't hesitate."

Cyril glanced nervously around the room. "I assure you, Spyro, you have nothing to fear from me. You can trust me."

Spyro issued a low growl. "I can't trust anything anymore, Cyril."

Cyril mulled the idea for a moment and then spoke up again. "What if I showed you where Cynder is?"

Spyro's maw wavered slightly and his defensive posture was relaxed a bit. The purple dragon relaxed and bowed his head. "I would like that, Cyril."

Cyril nodded and turned around. He walked through the open door and walked out of the open door and into the hallway beyond. Spyro followed the Ice Guardian a few steps behind and constantly looked over his shoulder, scanning his surroundings for any sign of trouble. The hallway was long and had many identical rooms on either side. "_The Sleeping Quarters, apparently."_ Spyro thought to himself. The pair of dragons trotted a short distance down the hallway past two rooms, one of which had been used it looked like to Spyro, and stopped two doors down from where the purple dragon had been resting.

Cyril turned around and looked at the young dragon, who was standing a few feet away from the Ice Guardian and looking over his left shoulder. Cyril cleared his throat, which caused Spyro's head zip back around and his amethyst eyes to lock onto Cyril's. "Before you enter, you need to know that Cynder is...not well. She is, obviously, in a state of near death and she will not look as if she is among the living. Her natural scales have withered away and she isn't moving. You should exercise the most extreme cau-"

"Cyril, I know. You don't need to worry. I thought by this time that you would trust me, but I know you, and you're slow to trust and very proud of yourself." Cyril grunted at this and murmured something that was inaudible to the young purple dragon. "I'm going in. Can I have some privacy with her, at least?"

Cyril grunted again and mumbled a barely audible. "Do as you must." The Ice Guardian then quickly walked away, heading towards the other side of the Temple. Spyro issued a small chuckle to himself and shook his head. Cyril was an experienced warrior and a natural leader, but he was arrogant and impatient. Terrador was much more relaxed and level-headed in times of crisis, which was why the Earth Guardian had been chosen as the Master Guardian instead of Cyril. Spyro himself found the Ice Guardian to be annoying, especially when the old dragon got talking about his 'pure lineage of the best of the best of the Ice Dragons to ever walk the Dragon Realms.' The two dragons had never seemed to get along, and Spyro harbored a personal distrust for the Guardian as a result.

The purple dragon shook his head once more and moved around to open the small door into Cynder's dormitory. The black handle felt unusually cold to the purple dragon, as if the slab of metal had not been used in generations. Spyro frowned at this, but he pushed the handle and walked slowly into the room as the door opened in front of him. Spyro turned around and shut the entryway with his back right paw and then spun back around to face the slumbering form of Cynder. As he turned back around, Spyro stopped dead in his tracks and his amethyst eyes grew wide in terror.

In front of him, lying on a queen sized bed was a gray dragoness. The natural shade of jet-black scales that had become so familiar to the Purple Dragon were gone, replaced by a lighter granite color. The dragoness had six horns dotting the top of her head, but the horn on the furthest right side had chipped and withered away somewhat. Her natural shade of magenta on her underbelly had withered away to a dark pink color, almost looking like a grayish-red tint. Her tail blade and claws were withered away as well, looking as dull as Spyro had ever seen them.

And on top of it all, she wasn't moving.

Spyro moved quickly to the dragoness' side of the bed where she was resting and laid his head next to the area of her underbelly where Cynder's heart was supposed to be. There was no vibration, just as Cyril had told him.

Spyro stepped away from the bed, tears now starting to fall down his face. "_Oh, Spirits, what have I done? This is all my fault...I should have stayed with her...Cynder..."_

The purple dragon sniffed and felt his eyes water even further. "Cynder...if you can hear me, I'm so sorry...so, so sorry..."

Spyro, through his own power, moved to the side of the bed again and lied down next to the dragoness. He draped his wing over her and continued to sob softly to himself. The purple dragon again laid his head on top of Cynder's heart and closed his eyes.

"_All of this is my fault...I've let everyone down. The Guardians when I didn't come back in time from The Night of Eternal Darkness in time, Sparx when I almost left him in the swamp and Cynder...I've let you all down."_

As negative thoughts continued to dominate his consciousness, the purple dragon quietly cried to himself and drifted off into sleep once more.

* * *

"..._Cynder...I've let you all down."_

"You see? He's lost all hope without you." The dark spirit laughed maniacally and closed the vision to the outside world. The Dark Spirit had vision into the outside world too, apparently.

"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" Cynder shouted at the form of Dark Spyro. "HE WOULDN'T!

The Dark Spyro, through his violently distorted voice spoke up once more. "He was only able to wake up because his passion to see you again drove him...now, he has NOTHING." The spirit laughed again. "Face it, you have nothing left. Cease your struggle!"

Cynder thought for a second to regain her composure. She and the Dark Spyro were pacing around in a circle, both sides throwing threats and insults to each other. The room that the two individuals were standing in was on the top of a dark citadel. The room had a glass roof that partially broken down in one place where a creature of some sort had flown through it prior to Cynder's arrival. The citadel lied in the middle of a large crystal forest. The crystals made the ground sparkle with light, but the citadel itself was dark and foreboding. Cynder had been to this place before, but against her own will. The environment of the dream world had changed to form into a dark memory for Cynder, one that the black dragoness wished that would never come back into her mind ever again.

The citadel was Cynder's Fortress in the region of Concurrent Skies.

The Terror of the Skies had returned home.

Cynder returned herself to consciousness and stared down the Dark Spyro. "I have plenty left to fight for. You have NOTHING. You're motivated by greed and dishonor." She said as she raised her paw in a defiant manner. "You'll never win, because I have something that you will never understand."

The Dark Spyro growled and cringed his teeth. "And that is...?"

Cynder smiled and raised her maw. "Love."

Before the Dark Spyro could react, Cynder rolled to her right and launched a quick poison shot at the form of the dark spirit. It let out a loud yelp and was struck with the green energy. The shot landed on the front right foreleg of the spirit. It howled out in pain as the poison melted away part of its scales again, in the same place that Cynder had hit in the battle before.

The spirit winced in pain and let loose a low growl at Cynder. "You insolent...taking the first shot like that."

Cynder grinned. "Early dragon catches the mole!"

The Dark Spyro roared at Cynder and flung itself at her, claws outstretched. Cynder activated her shadow powers in response and sunk below the ground. The spirit contacted with the cold stone floor without hitting anything. It roared in anger and searched the ground for the illusive dragoness.

"Surprise."

A force hit the Dark Spyro's back with strength that the spirit had never felt before. It yelped in pain once more and fell to the floor, bruised and broken.

Cynder raised herself back out of the ground and grinned again at the dark spirit. "Had enough?"

Dark Spyro growled and turned his head back up to Cynder and launched a fireball at Cynder's form above his body on the ground. Cynder sidestepped and launched a cyclone. It hit the dark spirit at full force and launched its body at a nearby wall. Cynder could hear the audible sound of bones cracking in the spirit's body as it collided with the wall and fell to the ground.

The spirit cried out in pain and moved around for a moment before it ceased its struggle and kept its limp body on the ground. It growled for a moment and looked back at where Cynder had been. The black dragoness now stood towering over the dark spirit's body.

But this time, she wasn't grinning.

Cynder growled herself opened her maw to speak. "You ruined our lives. All we wanted was a life of peace together. Instead, you force me to fight for Malefor AGAINST my will and force Spyro to undertake a journey that a thirteen year old should never have to go through. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Cynder screamed at the limp body of the Dark Spyro.

The spirit looked up and grinned. "You...brought this...upon yourselves. All we wanted was...to cr-create a n-new world. Instead...we have to f-fight all of you annoying dragons, even though you were doomed to..f-fail."

Cynder shook her head and issued another growl "The world that YOU would create would be shrouded in darkness! We fight to protect the Realms as they should be, peaceful and free from your rage and malice!"

The Dark Spyro shook his head. "No...you're w-wrong...but...I don't expect a...traitor...like you to un-understand" The spirit spat as it said 'traitor.'

Cynder roared and raised one of her claws to the spirit's chest, digging her sharpened blades into the spirit's chest. "I AM NOT A TRAITOR!" She screamed.

The dark spirit tried to resist by raising his own tail blade up to Cynder's neck, but he missed. Cynder drilled her claws further into the spirit's chest, hoping to extinguish its life force once and for all.

As the last bits of life clung to the Dark Spyro, it issued one last cry. "See you...soon."

Cynder finished drilling her claws into the spirit's chest and the body of it became calm and still. Suddenly, its body somehow exploded in a torrent of shadows before Cynder's eyes in a dark flash. Cynder shut her eyes to avoid looking into the shadows before she opened them again and looked around.

The body had vanished. There was no trace of blood, burns or charred scales anywhere. The spirit had vanished into thin air.

Cynder was shocked at first, but she eventually growled once more and spat on the spot where the Dark Spyro had been. "And for the record, my Spyro is better looking."

Cynder shook her head and turned around to face the thing that had brought to the citadel here in the first place. In the same place where she had imprisoned Ignitus three years prior, a large current of Convexity Energy coursed through a hole in the fortress. Cynder had spotted the tower of energy after her conversation with Emuleta and had quickly flown to find the source of the ray. The environment had altered before her eyes, changing from the Convexity like world into the now familiar realm of Concurrent Skies.

The beam also held something in the center of its wide radius that hovered just above the platform that the stream of energy jutted out from. It was a crystal like object, but it stood out from the rest of the beam. The crystal was jet-black, despite the Convexity's dark purple color. It looked exactly like the shade of Cynder's scales.

The young dragoness became transfixed on the crystalline structure. She began inching closer and closer to the beam, as if she was in some sort of trance. All the dragoness could think about was the beauty of the black stone.

As Cynder got closer and closer to the beam, she felt a powerful and familiar energy build up inside of her body. The level of the energy continued to climb as the black dragoness got closer and closer to the beam. Her eyes closed slightly and she felt the familiar energy of Convexity build up even further. She began to float off of the ground, despite the fact that she hadn't moved her wings.

Cynder felt her body leave the ground and begin to hover towards the crystal in the center of the beam. Her eyes opened again, but were now glowing with a bright white hue. Purple energy began dancing off of the black dragoness' scales. She held out her left paw to touch the crystal and relaxed the rest of her body.

As the dragoness' paw came into contact with the crystal, the powerful energy of Convexity left her and the energy stopped propelling off of her scales. The dragoness' entire body was flung backwards and she landed with an audible thud onto the stone floor below.

Cynder groaned in pain and felt the last bit of energy leave her body. Her eyes were closed tight and her body ceased all movement.

The dragoness had become unconscious.

* * *

Cynder's eyes shot open as soon as she regained consciousness. She picked her head up and tried to move her body, but her underbelly was held down by something heavy. She yelped in surprise from the sudden pressure on her body. She looked down and was surprised to witness what held her down.

A young dragon was lying next to her in a queen-sized bed. The dragon was snoring loudly and his chest rose up and down at regular intervals. His two horns were jutting into Cynder's thigh slightly as his head lied on her underbelly. Cynder blushed and smiled at the sight. The dragon was handsome with his golden underbelly...two golden horns and...purple scales!

Cynder yelped in surprise and screamed the dragon's name as she realized the truth.

"SPYRO!"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading Chapter 9! Another big chapter here, and Chapter 10 will be even better. I hope you guys enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave me a review and tell me how I did!**

**I'm going to start a new poll on my profile after next chapter and include my next two O/C's to be introduced, Tyron and Nerie. Stay tuned next chapter for that.**

**Special thanks goes out to Morning Frost on Leaf this time for agreeing to design a cover to Eternal Slumber! I can't thank her enough for her help with this! **

**Thanks again to Airchi this week for being such an awesome Beta! Airchi tends to notice faulty details that I always seem to miss myself. Thanks as always. **

**Stay tuned for Chapter 10! I promise that it will be worth the wait!**

**Best regards. -Unit Omicron**


	10. Chapter 10: Renewed Bonds

**A/N: Before I start off, I just want to apologize for taking this long to update. My life is chaotic right now and I have had some personal problems that I have needed to take care of. This chapter is much shortened because of it, this chapter was supposed to be double its current length, but I felt like I needed to update the story now rather than have you all wait another week. Thank you all for your patience, and here is Chapter 10 of Eternal Slumber.**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 10: Renewed Bonds**

Terrador's heart lurched slightly at the saying of his name. He rose to his feet and gave a sad smile. "Belinda. It has been a...long time."

Belinda just stood there, in the center of the room, unmoving. She was in pure shock at the sight of the Earth Dragon. Peron came up behind her and put a comforting paw on the dragoness' shoulder. Belinda didn't move a muscle. She was as still as a statue.

"I know that you weren't expecting me to show up again after all these years, but I promise you, I'm still here. I thought that you, Mother and Father were all..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish.

Belinda unfroze herself and light tears of sorrow and joy began to roll down her face. "They are, Terrador...I'm sorry. Mother and Father are gone."

Terrador nodded slowly. "I know. I went to Shattered Vale...I saw what became of it." He raised his head and smiled sadly once again. "I am just glad to see that you are alive."

Belinda smiled for the first time. She trotted quickly over to Terrador and embraced him in a full force hug. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you again. I thought I was the last one. We had no way of knowing that you were still alive, especially after the Dark Master's invasion..."

Terrador smiled, brightly this time. "I thought the same thing of you. How did you survive the event at the Vale?"

Belinda ended the hug and looked down at the floor, almost looking as if she were in shame. "I met Peron one day, years before the Night of Eternal Darkness. He was on leave in the Vale and we met there. I left with him a few months later when he had to return to Draxis. I wanted to see more of the world, Terrador. I never knew it would be the life-saving grace that it has become."

Terrador nodded. "I know. I'm just glad you did. But, let's discuss this later, Belinda. We have business to attend to."

Belinda nodded and moved back to Peron's side and took a seat on one of the rugs.

Richter and Tamara had sat through the entire exchange without moving or talking. It was not their place to speak. However, during the exchange, Tamara began to bat her pike-shaped blade at Richter's fin-shaped one. He smiled and did the same back at the Ice Dragoness. She giggled softly and the two continued with this for the entirety of the conversation.

As both Earth Dragons took a seat, Peron cleared his throat to call the informal meeting to attention. "Now that the reunions are out of the way, can we get down to business?" Peron was a very formal dragon during this sort of time. He had his compassionate side that he showed towards his friends and family, but the serious, more business-like Peron had come out now. "Terrador, I assume that you brought troops with you and not just a sixteen year old dragon?"

Terrador chuckled at the question. "Of course, Peron. The 2nd platoon is en route from Warfang at the moment. They should be here in two to three days, depending on the pace that Mason takes."

Peron bowed his head nobly. "Thank you, Master Guardian, for your assistance in this matter. It is greatly appreciated, the personal assistance that you are giving this village in our defense."

Terrador smiled and nodded. "Anything for family...brother-in-law."

Peron let out an enthusiastic laugh, his first in a long time. "We'll discuss the details later, Terrador. In private." Peron then turned to face Richter and Tamara. "You and your...uncle here have had a long journey, and there haven't been any sightings of the damnable wolves over the past few days. Why don't you two go off and enjoy the village a bit?"

Richter opened his maw to speak, to protest, but Peron held up a paw, cutting him off. "No buts, Richter. That's an order, if you don't want to listen to the father side of me."

Richter grumbled for a moment, saying things like 'duty' and 'defense' but remained silent for the majority of his ramble.

Peron smiled. "Good, now go. The three of us have some things to discuss."

Tamara smiled and ceased batting her tail against Richter's. "Let's go, stones for brains. We can come back later. Besides, I'm sure Tyron and Niere are just DYING to see you."

Richter laughed. "We already ran into Tyron, dying would be an understatement of his reaction. And, Niere? Really? Must I even answer that?"

Both of the young dragons shared a laugh. The pair then waved at the dragons left in the room and exited the home, closing the door behind them.

Peron sighed and shook his head. "Young dragons..." He looked back up at Terrador and narrowed his eyes for a moment before relaxing once again. "Now, Terrador. You mentioned the 2nd Platoon..."

Terrador nodded at the unsaid question. The Master Guardian described the unit in great detail, explaining Lieutenant Mason's service record, its heroics during the Battle of Warfang and the unit's strengths and weaknesses overall. Peron listened intently through the entire lecture, looking as if he were taking mental notes on the details. Belinda, however, was much less attentive. The Earth Dragoness nodded off to sleep for a few minutes. She was not the military type like her husband and brother were.

After Terrador had finished with his speech, Peron spoke up. "The 2nd Platoon's troop strength alone would almost triple our forces. And if they're as accomplished as you say..." The Master Fire Dragon looked over at his slumbering mate for a moment and smiled before turning back to Terrador. "We might just have a chance of winning this conflict."

Terrador smiled. "That is the goal, Peron. That is the goal."

* * *

"I'm not doing it."

"You have to, boulder head. Come on..."

"Do it yourself, snowflake."

Tamara giggled at the new nickname. "You're so creative. Now, really, do it!"

Richter sighed and shook his head. The pair of young dragons were standing in Draxis' only marketplace. The two had wandered the settlement for a bit before both agreeing to stop at the marketplace to look at the few stalls that were still open. Tamara had immediately ran over to a specific stand and looked at its wares. The salesperson, a mole, was waiting patiently behind the counter for Richter to make a decision. The stand that Tamara had run up to was selling sorts of colorful masks for festive occasions. Draxis' main holiday, Establishment Day was being celebrated the following week and it was customary to wear festive clothing or costumes like the one that Tamara was trying to get Richter to try on a specific mask from the stand.

"I'll never talk to you again if you don't do it, Richter."

Richter sighed again and nodded in defeat. "That's about the worst thing you could do to me, but there's no way you'd go through with it."

Tamara giggled again. "Probably not. Now...DO...IT."

Richter took the mask from Tamara and set it on his face. Tamara's eyes glowed for a moment before she started laughing uncontrollably. "You look ridiculous!"

Richter chuckled himself for a few moments. The mask was in the shape of a grublin, with the ugly features of the creature being highlighted. The green and earth like features of the creature blended in well with Richter's natural green scale shade. He looked like a grublin fly. "Ha ha. Very funny. I'm taking this thing off now." The green dragon passed the mask back to the shop keeper, who was trying hard not to laugh himself. Richter muttered a barely audible "Thank you." and began to walk away from the stand without looking at Tamara.

Tamara noticed the Earth Dragon walking away and she picked herself up of off the ground and ran after him. The Ice Dragoness quickly ran in front of him and cut the Earth Dragon off. "Hey, where are you going? It was just a joke, Richter."

Richter sighed and smirked slightly. "I am too. Just wanted to make you feel guilty."

Tamara grinned and punched Richter's arm. "You're such a joker sometimes."

Richter smiled back at the dragoness and motioned his head for the pair to continue through the small streets of Draxis. Tamara nodded and the two dragons continued to walk towards the other side of town. The two dragons were supposed to meet Tyron and Nerie to discuss Richter's trip to Warfang as well as the defense of Draxis during Richter's leave of absence..

For the majority of the trip through the small village, Richter and Tamara were silent, only glancing over each other and exchanging small smiles and glances. There wasn't much to say between the pair.

Tamara shook her head slightly and looked down at the symbol of the Ancestors hanging around her neck. "_It's perfect...__how did he know what to get me? I've never shared my beliefs with him..." _Then Tamara came to a realization. "_The shrine...of course. He must have seen me one morning." _The Ice Dragoness smiled to herself and looked over at the Earth Dragon walking beside her.

Richter was staring off into space as he walked, paying no attention to the Ice Dragoness beside him. Tamara smiled even brighter and shoved Richter on the shoulder. Richter eyes flung open and the Earth Dragon looked towards the Ice Dragoness.

He smiled at her before saying, "Sorry. I get lost in thought there."

Tamara grinned and said, "You always do. What were you thinking about?"

Richter turned away from the Ice Dragones for a moment before speaking. Tamara swore she could see some red tint on his face when he turned back to her. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." Before Tamara could continue with the subject, Richter continued to talk. "When are we supposed to meet Niere and Tyron?"

Tamara looked away for a moment, disappointed. After a short time, the Ice Dragoness turned back to Richter and said slowly, "At the edge of the village, in about..." Tamara as she paused and looked at the public timekeeper in the center of the marketplace. "Twenty minutes." She finished.

Richter nodded and said, "Alright. Let's get going. Niere wouldn't like it if we were late."

Tamara nodded in agreement and the pair continued to the outside walls of Draxis. Tyron and Niere had invited the pair to walk around the city, outside of its walls and discuss what they needed to discuss. Tamara shook her head at the thought. Niere was never one for any extended conversation, but she needed to know what had happened in Warfang.

The pair of dragons continued towards the walls of the city, making light conversation as they went. After a few more minutes of walking, the two dragons reached the outskirts of Draxis. Near the gate was a crimson Fire Dragon and gray dragoness standing close by. Tamara smiled and followed Richter over to where the pair was standing.

Richter was the first to speak. "Good day to both of you." Richter looked at the crimson dragon first. "Hello, Tyron." The Earth Dragon then turned and smiled at the other dragoness in the group. "Niere. It's nice to see you again."

The gray dragoness, now known as Niere, gave a small smirk and nodded. "Richter. Glad to see you're not dead."

Richter smiled a bit before saying, "I see that your sense of humor has gotten better since the last time we talked. Is Tyron rubbing off on you?"

Niere's smile ceased as she looked over at the crimson dragon standing next to her. Tyron, as always, was grinning like an idiot at her. Niere shook her head and then proceeded to turn back to Richter. "Not a chance, stone head."

Richter laughed and shook his head in return. Niere was stubborn, to say the least. She was a gray dragoness, looking lighter than Cynder's jet black scales, but not quite as light a shade as Tamara's. Her underbelly was a lighter shade of silver than her scales, but the two shades contrasted greatly. The dragoness' horns shot straight up out of her head, but they were much shorter and less suited for combat than Spyro's and were a bright white color, not the golden shade that the purple dragon possessed. Her tail was longer than most and ended in a crescent like shape, much like Richter's, but slightly more curved than the Earth Dragon's.

Niere had grown up in very gloomy and emotionless background. Her parents raised her to be a 'good young lady', and Niere had a lack of enthusiasm than most of her friends had themselves. Tamara had never met Niere's parents, however. The gray dragoness never spoke of them and none of the other dragons even knew where she lived or any other information from her past. Niere was a private individual, which the rest of the group respected, for the most part.

After a moment of thought, Richter spoke up again. "So, how was life here while I was gone?"

Niere groaned and shook her head. "When you're stuck on guard duty with this..." She motioned to Tyron. "...ash-head, it's a very painful process."

Tyron put a mocking paw over his heart and winced. "You pain me, Niere." The fire dragon almost doubled over laughing after he finished the statement.

Niere just rolled her eyes and shook her head, not showing any sign of emotion. Niere wasn't the most enthusiastic person in the world.

Tyron, noticing the lack of amusement from the rest of the group, cleared his throat and proceeded to become extremely interested in his paws for some reason.

Tamara giggled slightly and proceeded to change the subject. "Alright. We have some things to discuss."

Niere nodded. "Richter, care to explain your sudden trip to Warfang? I didn't hear about it until after you had already left."

Richter sighed and lowered his head. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Cynder almost fainted at the sight of the dragon that was sleeping in front of her.

Spyro was not only alive, but there he was...lying on her underbelly.

"_Is th__is...real? Am I still dreaming? Oh, Ancestors...please let this be real." _The black dragoness thought to herself. She looked down at Spyro and her paw next to where his heart was. She prayed and waited for a few moments, hoping to find a heartbeat. After a few moments, Cynder pulled the paw away.

She had felt a vibration in the dragon's heart.

Cynder breathed a sigh of relief and lied back onto the bed. She was exhausted, not physically, but in her mind. The dream world had been unpredictable and the constant attacks by the Dark Spyro had been effective in putting a great strain on the black dragoness. She prayed to the Spirits for some solace and time to rest.

Spyro snored loudly and turned over in his rest, resting his head on the bed once again. Cynder grinned and stiffled a laugh from her maw. The black dragoness arose slightly and looked over her body for wounds and scratched. She was astonished by what she found.

Her scales had withered away and the color had faded slightly, but that was only the beginning. The numerous wounds and scratches that she had received during her two fights with the Dark Spyro had faded away. There was no sign on the black dragoness' body that she had ever been in a fight.

Cynder stared at her form for a few moments, shocked and perplexed by this sudden transformation. "_Did the Spirits heal me? No, no, no. That whole thing was in my head. But...what happened to my scales? It only seemed like I was in that world for a few days. That can't be right, though. No way my scales should be this deformed after such a short amount of time. Just how long have I been asleep?"_

She shook the long thought train from her mind and continued to put as much effort into her body as possible to arise from the bed. The black dragoness groaned as bones cracked and muscles that had not been used in what seemed to be centuries contracted and moved around once more.

After a long struggle, Cynder was finally able to arise slowly from her resting place. The black dragoness set her paws down on the stone floor below and almost doubled over from the sudden pressure. She winced in pain, but mustered all of her strength and remained on her feet.

Shortly after regaining her footing, Cynder looked around and observed the room that she was situated in. It was still the same dormitory that she had fallen asleep in, but there were a few minor differences. For one, there was now a red curtain that looked like it was made of out of a smooth velvet material draped over the entryway that led to the balcony outside of the room. There was also a small drape surrounding the bed as well, which featured four posts and a small overhang on top of it. Cynder smirked slightly at this, knowing that Terrador had likely been responsible for it. The Earth Dragon had always been big on privacy, for both himself and his close friends.

The black dragoness continued outside, past the newly-hung drape and onto the outside balcony. She had a very different view than Spyro's, being on the opposite side of the building from the purple dragon's original room, but she still had an excellent view of the newly reconstructed city of Warfang.

Cynder was not as shocked as Spyro had been when he saw the sprawling metropolis, but Cynder's maw still dropped at the site of the city. In the time that the she had been in the dream world, the city had changed dramatically. All of the scars from the Battle of Warfang had faded. There were no scars of the fighting left on the city's structures and buildings. It almost looked as if the city had never been invaded.

Cynder let loose a sigh of relaxation. "_Those moles...wow." _She thought to herself.

The black dragoness shook her head and turned around to return into the room, passing again under the velvet drape. What greeted her in the dormitory almost made the dragoness yelp is surprise and dive off of the balcony behind her.

A large, yellow dragon stood in the center of the room, who was inspecting Spyro's still slumbering form. He was talking to himself as well. "Oh, this is just preposterous. What am I going to do about this brash, insolent little-"

"Volteer!"

The Electricity Guardian quickly spun around and one of the great dragon's familiar outbursts followed. "Cynder! How in the fabulous Realms of the great almighty Ancestors of folk song and lore did you manage to evade such a disastrous and chaotic state? The evil, hateful, dark and...and..." He trailed off, not being able to explain the situation to himself.

Cynder let a small giggle loose and shook her head. "Volteer...I see that your tongue STILL hasn't slowed down in the slightest while I've been away."

Volteer straightened up at this and opened his maw to speak once more. "Well, young lady, I'll have you know, my fabulous and fascinating use of such profound and complex language is very highly advanced and such not be taken light-"

"Would you PLEASE be QUIET, Volteer." A voice came from behind the ever-talkative Guardian.

Both Volteer and Cynder turned to face this new voice. Both dragons' maws dropped as their eyes fell upon the new individual in the room.

Spyro sat on the bed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Spyro!" Cynder exclaimed as she ran over to the purple dragon. Cynder nearly fell onto the bed and embraced Spyro. "I thought I'd lost you...the things you said..."

Spyro wrapped his arms around the black dragoness and pulled her closer to his body. "What do you mean?"

Cynder didn't answer, she sobbed to herself quietly while Spyro made a soft cooing sounds to get the black dragoness to calm down. Spyro looked up at the Electricity Guardian for a moment, motioning with his head towards the door. Volteer immediately understood. He nodded and moved towards the door and left the pair of dragons alone in Cynder's dormitory. Spyro breathed a sigh of relief and stroked one of his paws down the side of the black dragoness' body. Cynder sighed and nestled her head on top of Spyro's underbelly. Spyro rested his head on top of hers and both dragons closed their eyes, lost in the moment.

Neither dragon spoke for a very long time.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading this shortened chapter! You guys are amazing fans. This story wouldn't be possible without your unwavering support. The next chapter will be big, (relating to the plot, of course) I promise. I will work as hard as I can to get out to you ASAP. Thank you all again for your patience with this.**

**Special thanks this week to HKGhost (Shadow) for his conversations and support all week. Without his support this week, I would have probably dropped writing this story. He has a great new story, _The Legend of Dimitri and Syra: A New Dawn_, that is not getting the support and reviews that it deserves. If you want an amazing AU journey, hop over to his story and take a look. **

**Big thanks also goes out to FrostTheDragoness for her creative take on PMs. Interacting with her through my O/Cs has helped me develop a personal identity for each character and help come up with ideas for dialogue in this story. Frost has a great new story, _The Legend of Nightshade and Xavier: The beginning_, that has believable characters and a great AU story going on right now. Go take a look!**

**As always, thank you to Airchi for his great Beta reading and support for this story. Without his constant support, this story would not exist. Thanks as always, friend! Air has a great story, _Elemental Darkness_, that is approaching to becoming one of the most reviewed Spyro Fics of all time. He certainly deserves it! Go check it out. **

**Finally, thank you to you, the reader. Without your generous support, this story could not be possible. Thank you once again for your patience with my first experiment into writing. I promise, the next chapter might not be long, but will be very important to the plot of this story. Thank you so much!**

**Best regards to you. -Unit Omicron**


	11. Chapter 11: The Mighty Have Fallen

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 11: The Mighty Have Fallen**

The sound of thunder came from one of the open windows in the room. One of the individuals in the room got up and shut the window, wanting complete silence in the dark room. The figure returned to its seat, without making a single noise. The round table was silent. None of the figures in the room spoke, for fear of being reprimanded by the largest figure that sat at the head of the table.

One of the larger figures in the room sighed and shook her head. Never before had these meetings been so unproductive as they had been within the past few months. The individual looked out the closed window. It had never rained in this part of the Realms before. Thunder was common, as some of the other figures liked the sound but most preferred the silence and peaceful feelings that resulted from a star and a bright blue sky overhead.

The female individual returned to look at the table in front of her vision. The space was segregated to a sort, two sides sitting on either side of the dark, marble structure. On one side sat five lighter shaded individuals. All looked much like dragons, and had white or light gray scales. One that sat in the middle of the group was taller, broader and more muscular than the rest. She had light scales that radiated with light energy. Only one individual in the Realms had scales such as these.

Emuleta.

The Light Spirit gazed around at her allies. To the Light Spirit's immediate left sat Lokar, Spirit of the Oceans in the Dragon Realms, the weather that occurred in the skies above the Realms and natural disasters. To the left of the God of the Oceans sat Lokar's wife, Ryanar. Ryanar was responsible for overseeing the land and the earth of the Realms, natural disasters and cities of the Dragons. Whenever a new structure was built, most dragons would praise Ryanar for giving them the materials and strength to complete it. To the immediate right of Emuleta sat one of the more powerful Spirits present on her side, Ursing, who was the Spirit of Magic, the Celestial Moons and the night sky. Whenever a dragon used a breath attack or another species dabbled into sorcery, they would use a blessing from the Spirit to be able to complete their selected spell or attack. Sitting to Ursing's right was the Spirit of Love, companionship and families, Amaron. Amaron was often seen as the weakest of the Spirits, but Emuleta knew that the Spirit should not be taken lightly.

Emuleta then turned her gaze across the marble table at the opposing side. Those Dragon Spirits whose Realms fell into the darker parts of mortal affairs sat here. Most had darker scales, either being jet-black or a darker shade of gray than those on the Light side. Across from Lokar sat Sera (Sair-rah), Spirit of War, conflict and greed. Sera fed off of the powers of the conflicts around the Realms, and was the most powerful Spirit, next to the two Chief Spirits themselves, Emuleta being one herself. Next to Sera sat the Spirit of Metalworking, fire and labor, Poladaron. Poladaron had once been a light spirit herself, but had fallen to the darker side during the Dark Master's invasion. Across from Ursing sat the Spirit of Death, the underworld and the afterlife, Sirso. Sirso's powers had been drained much in the past few months with so many dead coming into his Realm from the Dark Master's war. Next to Sirso was an empty seat. The seat had been occupied by the Spirit of Darkness, power and chaos. He had been, without argument, the most powerful being to ever set foot in the Realms. Unlike the rest of his counterparts, however, this Spirit had had dark purple scales and had once been mortal.

His name was Malefor.

Emuleta cringed slightly at the thought of the Dark Master. Malefor had been invited by the Dark Dragon Spirits to join their pantheon after showing his aptitude for controlling the Dark Elements during his initial uprisings many years ago. Malefor had been uncharacteristically cautious at first, but as soon as the Dark Spirits showed him just how much power he could gain, the evil Purple Dragon had not hesitated. He had taken on the role and had eventually become even more powerful than the Chief Spirits themselves. Despite originally being a mortal, Malefor became the Chief Dark Spirit, opposing Emuleta. He had turned a few of the other Dragon Spirits over to his side, like Poladaron and then had set out to destroy the world. Emuleta had been unable to stop him, however, until Spyro's interference in the matter.

Emuleta shook her head at the memory and stared daggers at the figure that now took Malefor's place at the head of the table. The figure was taller, larger and much stronger than any of the other Dragon Spirits in the room. It had dark gray scales, despite being a light silver color years before. The Spirit had a black underbelly and membranes of his wings. Its horns were scaled back, looking much like Richter's. The Dark Spirit's face was broad and long, but the eyes...Emuleta turned away and winced slightly after meeting eyes with the Dark Spirit. The eyes on it were a hideous yellow shade, looking exactly like Malefor's had. Corrupted, dark and evil. The Chief Dark Spirit grinned and bore its ugly looking teeth.

Emuleta perked up slightly and regained her composure. She began glaring directly into the Chief Spirit's eyes and spoke threateningly. "Deismo. Sitting here idly all day is not my duty. Can we not proceed with this meeting?"

The Chief Dark Spirit laughed, lower and darker than he had once been. "Always straight to the point, aren't we, Emuleta?"

Emuleta scoffed and looked away for a moment. "With you, I have to be."

Deismo put a mocking paw over his heart and scoffed at the Light Spirit. "How rude of you, young lady! Is that any way to speak to your mate?" Deismo chuckled, and the three other dark spirits followed their leader's example.

Emuleta growled softly and let the anger dispel from her being before continuing. "You are no longer my mate. You ceased being so when you let that darkness take control of you."

Deismo stopped smiling and let a low growl loose from his maw. "You may not have to like it, but don't question my methods."

Emuleta pounded the table with her front right paw. "What methods? How could I like it? You so greedily followed in Malefor's footsteps. This is all YOUR fault."

"What is? The fact that I'm seeking to create a balanced world?"

Emuleta pounded the table again, this time harder and stronger than the last. "That you're seeking to take away two young dragons' free will! That you're seeking to ruin the peace that we have so recently achieved! That you're seeking to DESTROY THE REALMS!"

Deismo shouted back, rising out of his seat as he did it. "YOUR forces sought to destroy all of the darkness from this world! WE are simply seeking to create a better-"

"ENOUGH!" a new voice shouted from the other end of the marble table. Both of the Chief Spirits looked over at the new voice that had entered the grand chambers. All of the Dragon Spirits rose at the sight of the new entry into the room.

The figure that appeared from the shadows was another Dragon Spirit, but was unlike the rest of the Spirits in the room. This figure had blue scales, as opposed to white or black and walked with stature and poise. The figure was the tallest in the room, but not quite as broad or strong as Deismo or Emuleta. Its wings were tattered and had light silver membranes. It wore a large, golden chain around its neck that ended in a large, pyramid shaped charm. All of the spirits had an item of power that they always carried on their being, a star-like charm being Emuleta's and the general symbol of the Dragon Spirits being Deismo's. The Pyramid symbolized the power of the most important Chief Spirit of the group.

The Chronicler.

The Chronicler's sphere of influence was Time, balance and diplomacy. He was the most powerful of all of the Spirits and had the final say on any decision that the Dragon Spirits made, always seeking to balance out the Dragon Realms so that neither Light nor Dark gained too much influence and power. Malefor had upset that balance, but the old Chronicler had been unable to stop the Dark Master in his old age. However, that Chronicler had been replaced by another mortal dragon that had proven his worth during Malefor's uprising.

His former name was Ignitus.

The now blue-scaled Chronicler took his designated seat at the front of the table, in between both of the opposing sides. Most of the Light Spirits either gave him a slight nod or a wave of their paws. Most of the Dark Spirits let a small growl escape from their maws at the entry of this new Spirit. Many of the Dark Spirits saw Ignitus as a threat, mostly due to his mortal role in defeating Malefor. However, the dragon had always been about balancing the world when he had been alive, and the forces of peace were now flourishing in the world. Many Dark Spirits saw him as a hindrance to their plan and saw him as a Light Spirit, which Emuleta knew was incorrect.

Ignitus slammed a paw down on the table and glared at Deismo. "Emuleta is right, Deismo. You and your side's interference into these affairs are what is forcing my paw into this issue. YOU seek to carry out Malefor's plan once again. You were corrupted into the Darkness' influence before I was even chosen for this position. You have no one to blame but yourself in this situation."

Deismo growled. "Chronicler...how..._nice_ of you to join us."

Ignitus shook his head and nodded at Emuleta, who returned the favor. "Miss Emuleta. I apologize for the late arrival."

Emuleta shook her head and smiled lightly. "It is not a concern, Chronicler."

Ignitus nodded, his face saying '_thank you_'. He quickly looked around the table, taking in each of its occupants. His eyes fell upon the empty seat at the end of the table and he stopped for a moment. Emuleta could almost see memories flashing through his head as the blue Spirit stared at the vacant seat for a moment.

The Chronicler finished looking around the table and laid both of his paws on the table, forming a fist of sorts with his claws. He opened his maw to speak, and his deep and profound voice came through firmly. "Now, I believe we have matters to discuss. As brought up by the Chief Spirit of Darkness here."

He motioned one his paws to Deismo, who took the opportunity to speak. "Yes, and it is of great importance. We need to discuss the issue of the two new most powerful mortals in the Realms." Every Spirit in the room knew what three words followed this.

"Spyro and Cynder."

Emuleta immediately stood up and began screaming once again. "NO! THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE INVOLVED WITH THIS AGAIN!"

Deismo pounded a paw down and rose out of his seat as well, seeking to challenge the Light Spirit. "YOU aided them in their journey out of their minds! They were supposed to take that journey on their own, without ANY help from you!"

"They weren't supposed to take a journey like that in the first place, Deismo! You forced them onto that path, despite both of them already choosing to walk the Light path! Not the path of Darkness! Which you always seem to conveniently forget for some reason."

Deismo growled once again. "They are the most powerful mortals to ever walk the Realms, Emuleta. In case you have forgotten already. They unbalance the already Light world. They must be ELIMINATED to return balance to the Realms!"

Emuleta looked to the Chronicler for an answer. Ignitus cleared his throat and motioned with both paws for the other Chief Spirits to take a seat. The blue-scaled Spirit looked at Emuleta first. "Emuleta, you may not like it, but Deismo is correct. They are the most powerful mortal creatures to ever walk in the Dragon Realms. They defeated en ENTIRE army single-handily. They defeated a DRAGON SPIRIT, the most powerful one at that, without ANY help from you or your allies."

Emuleta looked down to the ground in shame for a moment. However, Ignitus wasn't done. The Chronicler then turned to Deismo. "And, Deismo...just what do you think you're trying to do? They ARE the most powerful beings in the Realms, but wasn't Malefor as well? Malefor sought to intervene into the mortal affairs of the Realms and would have succeeded had it not been for nature seeking to balance out the world through the birth of Spyro. Do you think the sudden birth of another Purple Dragon was by coincidence? No, Spyro and Cynder do not unbalance the world, they BALANCED it from you and your associates' influence.

Deismo frowned and let a small amount of shadow fire escape from his maw.

He was getting angry.

"May I remind you, IGNITUS, that you once knew these two dragons when they were mortal. This is all just an act of favoritism on your part."

Ignitus growled and shouted back at the Dark Master. "NO! This role as the Chronicler is too important for personal feelings to get in the way. This is about the Realms as a whole, and saving them from your personal greed and lust for even more power than you already have."

Desimo roared with more force than Emuleta had ever seen the Spirit use before. "This isn't about me! This is about restoring balance to the word! Which you seem to have forgotten in your rage that Balance is what drives this Realm!"

Ignitus stood up and pounded his paw again on the table. "Then why? Why are you seeking to destroy the Realms again and control the minds of Spyro and Cynder? This course of action will not balance the world! The balance you speak of has already been achieved!

Deismo growled lowly and spoke quietly. "I have had enough of your constant favoritism of the two legends and their pet Dragon Spirit." Deismo spat in the direction of Emuleta. "It is time we finished this discussion once and for all."

Emuleta spoke up this time. "What are you saying, Deismo?"

The Chief Dark Spirit did not answer with words, instead choosing to answer the question with a ball of shadow fire to the face of Emuleta. Emuleta yelped in surprise and quickly fell to the floor, clutching her face and screaming.

Deimo sat back down in his chair and smiled. "The only way to win is to clear the board...entirely."

Lokar was the first to react to Emuleta falling to the floor, launching a ball of light at Sera across the table. Sera, who was not ready for the attack, was flung backwards and hit the wall behind. The spirit fell to the floor, clutching his chest. Lokar was quickly flung back himself, however, a sphere of darkness being shot at him by Sirso. He quickly recovered in mid-air and landed on his paws. As the Spirit of the Oceans recovered, Ursing shot himself across the table at Deismo, attempting to catch the Chief Dark Spirit off guard. He was unsuccessful, however, as Deismo simply brushed the attacking Light Spirit aside with a swat of his hand. Ursing was flung backwards and somersaulted over the table, landing on the cold marble floor below. Amaron launched a light sphere herself at the slumped over form of the War Spirit, Sera. It connected and Sera was knocked against the wall as he was trying to recover. The War Spirit, despite all of his power, was unable to return to his paws. His head slumped over and remained still on the floor. He had fallen unconscious. The rest of the Spirits remaining flew at each other with much strength and aggression. However, one other form did not move.

Emuleta laid on the floor, no movement coming from her body.

The Chronicler attempted to put a stop to the madness, but even with his great powers of bending Time itself, he was unable to put an end to the conflict.

Ursing moved his tail blade around in an attempt to catch Deismo off guard again, but his attack missed wide right and Deismo was able to grab the tail and fling the Spirit of Magic across the room again. Ursing was also flung against the same wall that Sirso had struck and fell unconscious himself.

Emuleta still didn't move.

The other two remaining Dark Spirits quickly subdued and captured the other Light Spirits. Deismo quickly looked around the room and nodded slowly, motioning with his head towards the door The two other Spirits complied and dragged the unconscious forms of Ursing and the others from the room.

Deismo walked slowly over to where Emuleta had fallen and kneed down over her unconscious form. Most Spirits could be defeated by anyone, even mortals as Spyro and Cynder had proven, but he had to be sure...

The Chief Dark Spirit put a paw on the Chief Light Spirit's neck, feeling for a pulse.

There was none.

Deismo smiled and pulled away, motioning to one his comrades to remove his mate from the room. He watched as a Dark Spirit complied and removed the slumped over form from the area. Deismo watched as the Spirit was removed from the room and then walked over to one of the windows on the right hand wall. He smiled again, a devilish grin creeping onto his face.

"And so it begins."

* * *

**A/N: Good day, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it's short again, this was really just a plot focused chapter and was supposed to be combined into Chapter 10, but I did not have the time to put it in, based on my own personal deadlines. **

**Special thanks this week to Airchi once again for being such an awesome Beta! Thanks again, Air.**

**It may be a long while before I am able to update again. Chapter 12 has only 500 words as of right now, and I am not sure how I want to continue the plot from here on out. We will see how long it takes, but it shouldn't take more than two weeks!**

**Thank you again for reading! You guys are great fans. As of today, I have over 3,000 views and more PMs from fans than I can count. I can't believe the level of support that I have received for this story so far. Thank you all again, this story would not be possible without your support.**

**Best regards. -Unit Omicron**


	12. Chapter 12: Interruptions and Irony

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 12: Interruptions and Irony**

"So, let me get this straight. You went into a dream world, battled the dark side of your counter parts and were contacted by one of the Ancestors not once but _twice_?"

Spyro sighed and shook his head. Cyril had asked this very question four times before now. He was astonished that the pair of dragons had gone through this experience instead of him.

"You would think that I, with my Guardianship and my noble lineage of great prestige would entitle me a meeting with one of these...Dragon Spirits." The Ice Guardian almost spat as he said the final word.

Spyro exchanged glances with both Cynder and the Electricity Guardian, Volteer, who was lied down on the floor and was almost asleep himself. Spyro glanced at Cynder once more and smiled at the black dragoness. She smiled back as both dragons continued to ignore the Ice Guardian's rambling. Cyril was not known for restraining his pride or references to his 'great lineage'.

"THAT is enough, Cyril. We clearly and undeniably understand your point and your pompousness and arrogance is abominable to the extreme." Came Volteer's voice all of a sudden.

Spyro looked at Cynder, he received a shrug in return from the black dragoness. Spyro just shook his head and lightly smacked his paw against his face in annoyance. He could hear Cynder stifle a laugh from her position on the other side of the room. Spyro grinned and turned his attention back to the two Guardians still in the room.

Unsurprisingly, they were arguing.

"Spyro and Cynder braved the abysmal depths of the wonderful expanses of their own minds and-"

"But I am the purest Ice Dragon alive! I should be involved with these matters, not these...hatchlings." Cyril stated as he looked over at the two younger dragons.

Spyro simply shook his head and looked over at Cynder once again. He motioned with his head towards the door and the black dragoness nodded in return. Spyro stood up and turned to walk towards the door of the Guardian's Chambers, with Cynder following close behind.

"And just where do you think you're going, young dragon?" Cyril's voice came from behind Spyro.

Spyro slowly looked over his shoulder and gave the Ice Guardian a sarcastic smirk. "I'm taking a walk, oh, noble one."

Both Volteer and Cynder couldn't hold in their laughter after this, and both dragons burst out laughing, much to Cyril's surprise. Cyril just scoffed at the two dragons and stormed out of the chambers, shoving the door and Spyro aside.

Spyro grinned as both of the other dragons recovered and sighed from their bouts of laughter. Volteer simply nodded and smiled at the two dragons and simply stated, "It's good to have you two back. I'll be in the library."

Spyro smiled back and nodded at Volteer as the Electricity Guardian left the room. Spyro had always been closer to Volteer than he had to Cyril. Despite Volteer's excessive vocabulary usage at times, the Electricity Guardian was extremely intelligent and was fiercely protective of his friends and the Dragon Temple itself. He was a skilled fighter and a brilliant leader. Cyril was too arrogant to lead actual troops into battle himself, but Terrador was still the best leader out of the triumvirate.

Spyro grunted in pain after that thought, having a slight migraine since he had woken up from his Eternal Slumber. Volteer had said that it was just a small side effect of the near death state.

Spyro was hating every minute of it.

Cynder came up from behind the Purple Dragon and placed herself directly in front of his face. Spyro looked back up and smiled at the Black Dragoness, but her facial expression was in a state of concern, and she did not return the smile.

"What's wrong?" Cynder said slowly.

Spyro grunted and looked back down at the ground. "Just have a bad headache, had it since I woke up. Volteer called it a migraine or something." He said.

Cynder placed a paw under Spyro's chin and raised his head back up to meet hers. "Are you going to be okay? Do you need to go to the med clinic?"

Spyro waved his paw in a sense of denial and shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine. Just need to give it some time."

Cynder opened her maw to protest, but Spyro raised his paw to cut her off. "I'll be _fine_, Cynder. Just need some time. As long as Sparx doesn't show up, I'll be fine."

Cynder laughed, which cleared the air for both dragons. After regaining her composure, Cynder looked around the room that they were in, before looking back at Spyro and saying, "Where is that little golden mosquito, anyways?"

"Who you callin' mosquito, Miss Terror of the Skies?"

Both dragons yelped and jumped up at the sudden voice. Both dragons wheeled around to find themselves face to face with none other than the small dragonfly himself. "Spyro, old pal!" Sparx said, holding out his tiny arms at length, in a hugging sort of motion.

Spyro smiled at the golden dragonfly. "Sparx! It's great to see you!"

"I know. Everyone just loves me." Sparx quipped in a proud tone.

Spyro laughed and shook his head. "How have you been, Sparx?"

Sparx shook his head. "Your Guardians have put me to work. I'm like a courier to the old codgers now. They're makin' me deliver messages and other stuff." He resumed smiling again, however, as he said, "At least I'm losing some weight! You, uh, need to do the same there, big boy."

Spyro laughed and rolled his eyes. "Of course I do. Just like I've needed to since I was born, apparently..."

Sparx shrugged. "Hey, if you didn't have weight problems, this wouldn't be an issue!"

Spyro shook his head and just remained silent. Sparx's smile faded as he looked over at the other dragon standing in the room. "Hello, _Cynder_."

Cyndr grinned at the young dragonfly as she spoke. "It's _so _good to see you again, _Sparx_! Did you miss me while I was gone?"

Sparx closed his eyes and simply huffed at the Black Dragoness. "Not at all, trust me."

Spyro shook his head. "Come on, Sparx...can't you just give her a chance? Malefor is gone anyways. The darkness is gone from our heads...I hope."

Sparx looked back down at his foster-brother. "Of course it is. At least you _think _it is, purple boy."

Spyro shuddered and went into a trance for a moment, not wanting to even consider that possibility. He felt something warm fall onto his shoulder and he looked over to find Cynder's emerald eyes staring back at him. She smiled at him before saying, "It's alright, Spyro, don't go back there. You're amongst friends."

Spyro smiled and nuzzled his snout against hers, causing both dragons to close their eyes for a moment, simply enjoying each other's company.

"I think I'm gonna' be sick." Sparx's voice came from above the two dragons. The pair looked up at the golden dragonfly and both began laughing slightly. "Since when have you two been together?"

Spyro grinned and laughed for a moment before answering. "Since you let us go _alone _through the Belt of Fire." Cynder giggled after he had said this.

Sparx crossed her arms and made an uncomfortable look on his face. "I _knew _I shouldn't have let you two go without me."

Cynder shook her head. "Sparx, if you came with us, you'd be dead right now, no question about it."

Sparx nodded, agreeing with the Black Dragoness for once. "I know, I know..." Then, the golden dragonfly remembered something. "Hey, Cynder..." He said slowly.

Cynder cocked her head to one side, noticing the dragonfly's sudden mood change. "What is it, Sparx?"

Sparx lowered his head slightly and spoke slowly. "Cynder, I, uh...wanted to...thank you."

Cynder was now even more confused. "For what?" She asked.

Sparx looked back up at the Black Dragoness, half-smiling. He nodded to Spyro as he said, "For keeping your promise." And, with that, the dragonfly was gone.

Cynder's maw dropped for a moment before she recovered and nodded in the direction that the dragonfly had gone. "You're welcome, Sparx."

She turned back to Spyro, who had somewhat of a confused expression on his face. "What was that all about?" The purple dragon said quickly, bewildered.

Cynder sighed heavily and shook her head. "I'll tell you another time."

Spyro simply shrugged and motioned with his head towards the opposite direction that his foster-brother had gone. Cynder nodded back and fell into step right beside the purple dragon. She turned to him said, "Where are we headed now?"

"The eating area. I'm starving." Spyro's stomach, as if on cue, suddenly growled in agreement as he said this.

Cynder laughed and shook her head. "Considering you haven't eaten in almost a month and a half, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest."

Spyro shrugged once more. "Can you blame me? I mean, really?"

Cynder smiled as she said, "I guess not."

The couple continued the rest of the way in silence. Spyro observed his surroundings as they passed by. Cynder was leading for most of the way, knowing the new Temple better than Spyro did. This was his first real time observing the building, and the purple dragon was marveled by its decorations and architecture. Cynder noticed him staring at the ceiling a few times and nudged him when a mole or other creature was about to bump into the oblivious purple dragon.

After a few minutes, the pair eventually reached the eating area and both ordered their meals from the counter and sat down. The kitchen staff was mainly a skeleton crew, not needing a full complement until the opening of the academy, which was still two months away. Finding a place to sit was not hard either, the Temple was mostly empty this time in the afternoon, and only a few other dragons, moles and other creatures were milling around the room. Spyro could almost feel the other individuals' eyes on him and Cynder from around the room. Many of the citizens of Warfang had not heard about the two dragons' awakening, and many mouths and maws fell open when the pair walked by.

Both ate in silence for a few moments before Cynder looked up at Spyro and said, "Did you get up to speed with Volteer earlier today?"

Spyro nodded. "A lot has happened while we've been 'away'."

Cynder nodded in return. "So, you know about Richter."

"Yes. That's why Terrador isn't here, right?" Cynder nodded. "What about him?"

Cynder looked away from Spyro for a moment, as if she was contemplating the question. She then turned back to him and said, " I've never even heard of Draxis, much less Richter. Did you even know there were other settlements in the area?" Spyro shook his head. "Then why did Terrador go _personally _to such a small village if all they needed were a few soldiers?"

Both dragons entered the question at the same time, speaking in perfect harmony. "_He has a personal stake there._"

Both dragons laughed after saying it together, but then returned to the same, serious demeanor. Spyro was the first to speak up, saying, "I wonder if they need help in Draxis...?"

Cynder nodded at the unsaid question. "There's a lot we can do here as well, helping set up for that academy Volteer keeps talking about."

Spyro shook his head and grinned slightly. "I don't know how to hold a hammer, and the moles are perfectly able to finish it on their own."

Cynder nodded. "I know...but, are you really suggesting that we should...?"

"Yes. I think we should go help Terrador and this...Richter in Draxis."

Cynder nodded. "I agree. We could do more there than we ever could here."

"We need to talk to the Volteer and Cyril first, though."

"Finish your meal and we'll go."

Spyro grinned. "This should be fun."

* * *

Tyron's eyes widened and his maw fell open. "Wait, wait, wait. Terrador is your _uncle?_"

Richter eyed the Fire Dragon for a moment before nodding. "Like I've said at least four times now, Tyron. Yes, Terrador is my uncle."

Tyron shook his head once more and grinned at the Earth Dragon. "Just pulling your tail, Richter."

Richter stifled a laugh and shook his head in return. "Can you cut that out? You're confusing me."

"He confuses everyone." A voice came from the side.

Tyron looked over his shoulder to the right to find Niere lying down, her face in her paws. She noticed Tyron's gaze and looked up at him for a moment. "You are such an idiot, Tyron."

Tyron gave Niere a sad face, in an attempt to mock her. "Aw...you hurt my feelings, Niere."

Niere shot up from her prone position and grabbed Tyron by the throat. "Shut it, or I'll shut you."

Tyron noticed the dragoness begin to charge up and he attempted to scurry away, but it was of no use. Niere let a small discharge loose and shocked Tyron with a slight static charge meant to cause annoyance and not pain.

However, Tyron had a low pain tolerance.

"OW!" The Fire Dragon exclaimed, shoving Niere away in the process. He rubbed his neck with one paw and while glaring at Niere with his dark brown eyes. "What did you do that for?" He shouted.

Niere backed away and gave the Fire Dragon a stare. "For you being you. Now, _shut it._"

Tyron gulped down his nerves and just simply nodded. He and Niere had never been the best of friends, and Niere downright despised the fire dragon, from what she had said to Tyron in the past. Despite this, the pair of dragons still hung around each other out of necessity and mutual relationships with Tamara and Richter. Tyron did not hate Niere, but found the Electricity Dragoness to be quite different from himself, and the two constantly got into arguments over Tyron's electric personality or Niere's lack of enthusiasm for anything in life.

Tyron turned to Tamara and Richter to find both dragons rolling on the ground in laughter. The fire dragon narrowed his eyes at the two figures and shook his head. "I'll never know why you two get so much amusement out of Niere's abusing of me."

Richter sighed, calmed down and stood back up on his four paws. "Because you're scared of her."

Tyron frowned at the Earth Dragon and shook his head once again. "You would be too, if you were in my position."

Niere cleared her throat, making both dragons look at the Electricity Dragoness. "Tyron, you're just too weak to stand up to me."

Tyron sighed and looked at the ground, all the while shaking his head. "I don't even know why I bother talking to any of you."

"Because we're your friends." Came Tamara's voice from behind Richter. She walked over to Tyron and nudged him in a friendly manner. "Come on, ash-head. Where would you be if you had never bothered to befriend us?"

Tyron grinned and nodded at the Ice Dragoness. "Sitting in my home with my over protective parents for the rest of eternity."

Tamara just laughed. Tyron's parents, both fire dragons themselves, had been a caring and loving pair of dragons during Tyron's childhood, and without Richter's friendship and kindness towards the Fire Dragon's parents, he would still be stuck in the same situation that he had been in originally. Richter opened up the world outside Draxis for Tyron, and the two had been friends ever since.

"How about we all stop antagonizing Tyron and go spend the rest of my day off in peace." Richter stated.

The rest of the group simply nodded, with Tyron choosing to speak first. "What did you have in mind, Richter?"

Richter looked off down the street for a moment and pondered the question for a moment. His stomach then growled, answering Tyron's question for him. "I haven't had anything to eat in a few days. I only hunted with Terrador once, because we were trying to get here so quickly. Let's go outside the gates for a little while and go hunting. Does that sound like a plan?"

Everyone else just nodded again and Richter returned the favor and turned around, heading back towards the entrance to the small village.

Tamara ran up to Richter's side and smiled broadly at him. "Nice to see that city life did not change you."

Richter grinned back at the Ice Dragoness and shook his head. "You just don't have any faith in my hunting skills, do you?"

Tamara giggled slightly. "Considering your own father says you still have to improve in that department..."

Richter, ever the sarcastic Earth Dragon frowned and put a paw over his heart, and tried to look as offended as possible. "Well, then. You _don't_ have any faith in me." The Earth Dragon then raised his head and closed his eyes in a pompous sort of manner. "Well, I'll have you know, I caught a deer on my way back from Warfang with Terrador."

Tamara just giggled again and rolled her eyes, but choosing to remain silent.

All the while, Tyron observed this short exchange from behind the two dragons in silence, walking beside Niere. The Fire Dragon shook his head and glanced over at the Electricity Dragoness for a moment and opened his maw to speak. "Funny how those two are such good friends and yet..."

"You have no idea." Niere said in her usual monotone voice.

Tyron gave her a side look, one eyebrow shot up in the air. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Niere gave the small Fire Dragon a side look as well, imitating his own. "What do you think?"

Tyron shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? Those two have an extremely complicated relationship. I don't really know-"

"Then I'm not taking the time to explain it to you." The Electricity Dragoness stated, cutting the Fire Dragon off and walking ahead to join Richter and Tamara in stride. Tyron sighed and shook his head, not bothering to catch up to the group. "_I don't even know why I bother with her anymore..._"He thought to himself.

After a short time of walking, the group of four dragons reached the outskirts of the small village and exited the gate to the wilderness surrounding the village. The surroundings of Draxis was mostly make up of forests, hills and small ponds here and there that sometimes flowed into the Draxis River after long storms. These ponds dried up during droughts and almost flooded the forest at times during the wetter seasons of the year. The weather and climate of Draxis, based on the average, was mild year round. However, due to the overall low elevation of the Draxis River Valley, the village and Valley itself was prone to flooding. The walls around the small village were first built in an effort to keep the water out of the city, and it had largely been successful since its erection. Peron had always said that the walls were in the village's best interests.

Richter continued to lead the group in silence, all of the dragons knowing where they were going ahead of time. They had all been hunting with each other before and had largely been successful, despite their inexperience in the art of hunting. Tyron was arguably the best at it, closely followed by Niere. Tyron's Fire Element was the best one suited for hunting and he had been trained by Peron himself in the art. Tyron was almost as skilled in combat with his fire element as his mentor was. The Fire Dragon's parents were largely unskilled and incapable of teaching Tyron how to use advanced combat tactics with his element. Peron had been a great mentor to the young Fire Dragon and the older Fire Dragon had promised to keep teaching Tyron for as long as he could keep learning.

Along the way to their normal hunting grounds, Tyron noticed an interesting behavioral habit coming from the two lead dragons in the group. Both Tamara and Richter would give each other sly glances while the other wasn't looking. Each would look the other over for a moment before returning their attention back to the front of their vision. Once, Richter caught the Ice Dragoness staring at him for a moment and both looked away quickly, and Tyron thought he could see a slight tint of red on Tamara's and Richter's faces.

He shook his head for a moment and looked down at the ground. "_Those two..."_

The Fire Dragon looked over at Niere for a moment, seeking to grab her attention. The Electricity Dragoness, ever aware, immediately noticed the Fire dragon staring at her and returned his gaze. She narrowed her eyes for a moment before speaking. "What?" She said. "Are you checking me out or something?"

Tyron shook his head and grinned. "You wish."

Niere shook her head in return. "Not really. Now, what?"

Tyron motioned with his tail to the two dragons walking in front of them. "Have you seen those two?"

Niere looked forward for a moment before returning her gaze back to Tyron and raising an eyebrow at the Fire Dragon. "What about them?"

Tyron just shook his head once more and looked down at the ground. "They always act strangely whenever they're around each other...you don't think...?"

"That they're in love or something? Yes, I do think that."

Tyron was taken aback by this sudden and forward answer. "You know, you could be a bit more mitigated about something like that."

Niere shrugged. "I'm always to the point, ash-head. Helps me get my point across."

Tyron narrowed his eyes at the Electricity Dragoness. "Is that why you're always insulting me to my face?"

Niere gave Tyron one of her smirks that he had become very accustomed to over the years. "Not even close to why I do it."

Tyron just looked at Niere for a moment but shook his head and looked forward, not wanting to continue with the topic. "I'll never understand you."

Niere smirked again. "No, you won't."

After a few more minutes of walking, the group finally reached the familiar clearing in the middle of the forest outside of the village and Richter turned around to face to the other three dragons in the group. "So, we should probably separate into groups or hunt individually. What do you all think?"

Tamara immediately responded by dragging Richter off into the opposite direction of the woods. "Groups! See you two later!"

Tyron stifled a laugh from his maw at Tamara's sudden action. Niere just shook her head and remained stone cold, as usual.

Tyron turned to the Electricity Dragoness to inquire about hunting with her. Niere raised a paw to stop the Fire Dragon from speaking. "Before you even ask, I'll answer your question." She looked Tyron directly in the eye as she said it. "_No._" And with that, she was gone, running off into a different direction than the two dragons before her had gone.

Tyron sighed and shook his head. "Just my luck." He said aloud to himself. He shook his head once more and continued off in another entirely different direction than Niere had.

Tyron enjoyed hunting as much as the next dragon, but he preferred hunting in groups rather than just doing it alone. Tyron was a social creature and he enjoyed interaction with other dragons while he hunted. Most of the time, he and Richter would be the ones doing the hunting and Tamara and Niere would be hunting in a separate group. However, something seemed to have changed in Tamara while Richter had been away in Warfang. She had talked about him every single day that he had been gone and hadn't left the Earth Dragon's side since he had returned to Draxis earlier that day. Niere said she knew what was going on between the two, but Tyron had no idea.

He shook the thought from his mind and looked around for a good spot to hide in. There was some low brush on the right hand side of Tyron's vision, but his crimson scales would give him away if he hid there. There was a low tree on the left hand side that had a large branch that could support Tyron's weight, but the Fire Dragon was slightly afraid of the tiny tree, and what his fate could be if that branch _couldn't _support his weight. Then, something came into his vision that made the Fire Dragon smile.

To the right of Tyron, a good fifty yards away stood two deer. Tyron had not startled them and they seemed to be oblivious to the Fire Dragon's presence. Tyron licked his maw in anticipation of catching the animals.

His favorite food was roast deer.

Tyron quickly, but carefully inched his way closer to the duo of animals, taking extra care not to scare off the game. He almost stepped and cracked a few twigs along the way, but quickly regained his balance and situated his paws in another place.

After a few minutes of careful movement, Tyron finally came within a few feet of the game that were still standing absent mindlessly in the same place they had been in when Tyron had seen them in the first place. He readied his body and lowered his slim form as far down to the ground as he could. He readied a small amount of gas in his maw and readied to ignite into a solid Flamethrower attack. The Fire Dragon carefully inched to be within two feet of the deer without them noticing, hiding in a small underbrush. Tyron opened his maw, ignited the gas, stood up and...

"Tyron!"

Tyron hesitated and jumped, scaring off both deer, running in opposite directions. The Fire Dragon growled and fired a quick fire ball at the closest retreating deer. It connected, and the deer fell the ground, screaming in pain. Its eyes quickly went glossy and still, signifying yet another semi-successful hunt for the young Fire Dragon.

Tyron growled in annoyance and turned to face where the voice had came from. About fifty meters away, where Tyron had originally stood when had seen the deer in the first place, stood none other than the Ice Dragoness herself, Tamara.

Tyron quickly walked over to the Ice Dragoness, and she did the same, the pair meeting in the center.

Tyron growled at Tamara. "What were you thinking, calling me like that while I was hunting?"

Tamara eyes were as wide as the Fire Dragon had ever seen them. Tyron's expression quickly changed from anger to that of concern. "Tamara, what happened?"

Tamara seemed to regain her composure for a moment, but her voice was shallow and tense as she spoke. After hearing what she had to say, however, it was Tyron's turn to be wide-eyed and drop his maw.

"Richter, he's being attacked...by wolves!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this took so long. Life combined with writer's block makes for an inactive Unit Omicron. :P**

**Just have a few announcements for you guys. Please read this! These are important.**

**1. I will be inactive starting next week, due to the fact that my marching band practices are starting up combined with the suddenly approaching start date of school that is now less than a month away. Updates will be coming at you less frequently, but please don't lose hope with me!**

**2. I have recently started a new, combined account with my good friend and fellow co-author, HKGhost (Shadow). The account's name is 'UnitGhost'. We are planning on making a crossover series with my OC, Richter and his OC, Dimitri, being the main characters. We don't have a specific plot yet, but it WILL be an actual series, not just a oneshot. The pilot chapter will be coming at you soon, so stay tuned for that and check it out!**

**3. I am also now a co-author for another Spyro the Dragon story in the archive, titled '****_The Mantle of the Prime Dragons_****' by SubSonicSoundwave and HKGhost, as well as yours truly. The story is on Sonic's profile. It's the most comprehensive backstory that I have ever seen created for a Fan Fiction, and it's definitely worth a read. If you want to read another story by me, please go check that one out!**

**4. I have restarted the old poll on my profile with all new options...please help me by picking your favorite character(s) from this story so far! It's a tie right now, between Spyro, Cynder, Terrador, Richter, Tyron and Niere. Please vote in it! I'm going to leave it up for a while so you guys have some time to vote. Thanks!**

**Alright, now on to my special thanks for this chapter!**

**First off, thanks to Airchi and Zizima once again for being an incredible Beta team! Be sure to read Airchi's awesome story, ****_Elemental Darkness._**** I'm the Beta for it, and it is such an honor to edit such an amazing story like his.**

**Second, big thanks goes out to Avimus for his extremely helpful reviews and his considerate offer of adding this story to his community, '****_The Warfang Elite_****. Be sure to check out his profile and read his story, ****_Brave New Era Quadrilogy I: End of Beginnings._**

**Third, thanks to Darkness Oversoul once again for her amazing reviews and pressure for me to keep up this story. Be sure to keep an eye out for her next update to ****_Uncharted_****. She promises it to be worth the wait!**

**Finally, big thanks this week to HKGhost for being a good friend and agreeing to become co-authors with me. If you have some time, be sure to check out his story, ****_The Legend of Dimitri and Syra. _****It is one of the BEST AU stories that I have seen created. Be sure to check that one out!**

**Alright. Sorry for my long A/N! Be sure to read all of it, though. It's important! Thank you for reading and please be patient for the next update!**

**Best regards. -Unit Omicron**


	13. Chapter 13: Renewed Conflict

**A/N: Before I begin this chapter, I would just like to apologize again for how long it took me to start and update this story. I have been swamped with work over the past few weeks and I didn't have very much time to pursue another update. Again, I apologize for not updating for a month. I hope you enjoy Chapter 13 of ****_Eternal Slumber._**

**The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber**

**Chapter 13: Renewed Conflict**

Richter had never been much of a hunter. Despite all of the times that he had tried to practice with his father, he had never quite been able to master the art of it. Every time he approached a deer, a hare, or whatever the creature might be, the Earth Dragon had a knack for making simple mistakes that ruined the entire hunt. Whether that might be stepping on a twig, rustling some ferns, or whatever the mistake might be, he was almost never able to do it correctly.

However, now that a dead hare sat in front of him with a few small rocks protruding from its body, Richter had a small stroke of confidence.

It had been a near perfect hunt for the Earth Dragon. He had been waiting in the branch of a tree above the forest for a few minutes, and had set some bait under him before hand. After waiting for a short while, a hare came out of some ferns on the left hand side of the tiny clearing in the forest, and had stuck its nose straight up in the air. Whether it had been sniffing the air for the location of the bait or trying to see if any predators were in the area, Richter wasn't sure, but the outcome had gone the Earth Dragon's way.

As if it was satisfied, the hare had nodded its small head stepped away from the small bush and continued towards the bait directly under the large oak tree that Richter had situated himself in. It had put its head to the ground and started to nibble on the bait when Richter had made his move.

He had jumped the ground in one, quick motion and activated a small earth shot in his paws. The few chunks of rock that had responded went directly into the hare's tiny body. It had let loose a small squeak before it fell over and its eyes went glossy. Richter now stood in the same place of where he had landed after jumping from the tree, admiring his work.

"Surely you're not just going to stare at it all day...right?" Tamara's voice came from behind the Earth Dragon.

Richter had let out a small yelp as he turned around, finding himself face to face once again with the Ice Dragoness. She was looking up at him with those sky-blue eyes and one of her signature grins planted on her face. She smiled as she said, "What? I didn't scare you, did I?"

In all honesty, she had. Richter had been purely focused on the hunt. Memories can flooding back as the Earth Dragon finally realized that she had been standing on that branch with him the entire time.

The Earth Dragon smiled back and shook his head as he said, "Of course not. I was just...really into it."

"Of course you were. You never score any kills, so I bet this is a real triumph for you."

"Hey! That's offensive, Tamara."

She giggled, "Of course it was. You know, you get offended too easily."

"Any other bright tips on the tip of your maw?"

"Just one. We should take this thing back to Draxis before it starts to stink."

Richter shook his head, still grinning as he spoke, "What, you don't like the dead bunny?"

"Shut it, stones for brains. Come on, let's go."

Richter nodded as he picked the animal carcass up and hurried after the retreating dragoness. Normally, they would meet the two dragons before they had left that they should all meet back at Draxis instead of their normal clearing a few miles outside of the village's walls. Tamara gave small glance back at the Earth Dragon, smiling as she slowed her pace to allow the Earth Dragon to walk at her side. Richter nodded back and smiled at the Ice Dragoness once more, blushing slightly at her smile.

Wanting to push the thought from his mind, he opened his maw to speak and said, "So, I didn't ask. How did the combat training go while I was gone? Peron said you've had a few weeks free of a wolf attack."

Her smile faded as she nodded at the question, answering it by saying, "Your father is as tough as you make him out to be. He treated me like I was a soldier for the week...it was painful, but I'm learning."

"How much did you do?"

"We trained for at least three hours a day, sometimes even longer."

"Believe it or not, that's a normal schedule for us...how did it go, though?"

The Ice Dragoness shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment before looking back up at Richter and frowning as she said, "I didn't make any progress, really. Peron said I did, but I just...I just don't feel any stronger. I really think I should just stay as a healer, Richter. You're the one who can handle the combat affairs..." She looked down at the ground in shame.

As if by instinct, Richter immediately draped a comforting wing over the Ice Dragoness and smiled at her. She smiled back and nuzzled herself into the Earth Dragon's wing closing her eyes in the process. Both dragons stood there for a moment, content with how things were.

Richter, while keeping his wing wrapped around Tamara, closed his eyes and began to speak, "I know you may feel discouraged now, but I promise, you just have to keep practicing. The only reason that I have become so good in combat with my own element is because I have trained and trained and trained for years. If you do the same, I have no doubt that you'll be successful as I am."

Tamara opened her eyes and peered up at the Earth Dragon wrapped around her. She blushed slightly as she realized the position that they were in, but did not motion for him to let go. She didn't answer his words, choosing to remain silent once more.

Suddenly, Richter heard a slight rustle and a twig snap over his shoulder.

"Tamara, I think that-" Richter couldn't finish his sentence before a large mass of rough, knotted fur flung itself out of the brush and rammed into the Earth Dragon's side. Both Tamara and Richter yelped as they somersaulted over each other and the three forms finally landed on the ground a few feet from where they once stood. Richter sprung into action, firing a strong earth shot at the mess of mangled fur that was currently face down on his underbelly. The mass was flung backwards and did another somersault before it landed an audible _thud _and resting on the ground.

Richter glanced back at Tamara, who was struggling to rise to her paws. "Tamara. Are you alright?"

"Fine...what-"

"Go get Tyron."

"What?" The Ice Dragoness asked, blinking in confusion.

"_Go!_" The Earth Dragon shouted. Tamara scrambled to her feet and ran off in the direction that Tyron had went previously.

Richter nodded in the retreating dragoness' direction and turned to face his opponent. The individual slowly got back onto his feet, clutching its chest. It turned around and snarled at Richter.

It was a wolf.

The wolf was not much taller than Richter, from head to toe, and stood on two feet. It was a feral, as the people of Draxis called them. In all truthfulness, that was more of a racist term that an actual truth. The 'Ferals' that had been raiding the tiny village were largely intelligent, physically adept and worthy opponents in battle...if they didn't kill you. This particular wolf looked no different than most of the others that Richter had encountered. He had grayish-brown fur with small black spots dotting parts of his body. It's tail was shorter than most of the others that Richter had battled before, meaning that he was a bit younger. He had two, vicious yellow eyes that stared at Richter with hate-fueled anger. He was wearing a dark brown cloak with a small red cape stretched over his body. A small combat knife was strapped to his thigh on a leather tool belt, but he had not drawn it from its hiding place on the inside of the cape.

The young wolf snarled again and launched another attack at the Earth Dragon. Richter met the creature dead on with another, more powerful earth shot that sent the wolf flying back once more. However, this time the wolf did a flip in the air and landed on its two paws, and launched itself yet again at the Earth Dragon. Richter was not expecting this quick of a reaction, and yelped as the tangled mess of fur tackled him and flipped him over the ground. The wolf scratched at Richter's left side with one of his sharpened claws and hit dead on. A large gash formed and small amounts of blood began to trickle out of the wound. Richter screamed and felt a burst of adrenalin course through his body as he rolled over on the ground and propelled the wolf off of his underbelly, but not before scratching one of his own talons of the side of the wolf's thigh.

The wolf was flung away from the Earth Dragon and landed a few short feet away, and struggled to return to its feet. In the few seconds of respite, Richter observed the wound on the left side of his body. It was a large gash and crimson-red blood was already flowing from it. Looking at it made him slightly sick and dizzy, but Richter was able to return to his feet and put the wound from his mind. The wolf snarled as he returned to his two, long legs and turned to glare at Richter. The wolf's paw went for the small combat knife that has somehow managed to stay attached despite the acrobatics that he had pulled off. He drew the knife and charged at Richter. Richter barely dodged the first swing and grimaced at the pain in his wound. He launched a small earth missile attack, but the wolf, ever so agile, dodged to the right as he prepared to launch yet another attack. As the knife came towards Richter's shoulder, he fired another quick earth shot that connected this time and sent the wolf flying backwards once again. Richter immediately sprang into action.

The Earth Dragon opened his wings and caught the wolf in mid-air with his claws. Richter did a flip in flight and flew back towards the ground at full speed. He slammed the wolf into the ground which let out a large gasp of air from the creature; the wind had been knocked out of him on the way back down. Releasing the young wolf from his claws, Richter landed on his paws and launched another earth shot at the figure on the ground. It connected, and the wolf cried out in terror as his body was ripped apart by the strong pressure from the repeated blows to his stomach. The wolf continued to fight for air, trying to draw in quick and shallow breaths into his lungs, but nothing went through.

His lungs had collapsed on the impact.

Richter stood over the wolf, emotionless, as he died. The Earth Dragon took one more look at him. The wolf couldn't have been much older than 19, a bit older than Richter, but not any more skilled in combat. The combat knife, sometimes referred to as a dagger by the wolves that Richter knew in Draxis, was a curved shape, and looked as if it had been sharpened for the occasion. Its spikes on the blade end looked almost like a dragon's talons that protruded from the small blade. It was a masterful work of smithing. Richter had not seen any of the other wolves wielding anything like it. Clearly, this wolf was important to his clan.

The young wolf, as if in one last moment of denial, raised his head to the sky and let loose and long and powerful howl, that resonated throughout the forest and the echoed into Richter's ears. Then, as soon as he finished, the wolf's head dropped to the side and was never raised again.

He was dead.

Richter dropped his head and closed his eyes for a moment, saddened that he was forced to kill such a young and promising warrior. He opened his eyes once more and opened his maw to speak.

"Requiescant in pace," Richter muttered in the old draconic tongue as he hovered a paw over the wolf's mangled corpse. He finally moved the paw up to the wolf's motionless and glossy eyes and closed the eyelids. He had learned the phrase from his father; a rough translation to the modern draconic language amounted to "_Rest in peace._"

His father had always taught him to respect the dead and honor fellow warriors for their honorable challenges. While the wolves would never show Richter the same respect if they finally managed to kill the Earth Dragon, it was not becoming of Richter to sink to their level and taunt their own corpses.

Richter staggered on his feet and put a paw to his head. The blood loss was making him dizzy.

"I need to...need to find Tamara," he muttered to himself as he staggered back into the wilderness in the same direction that the Ice Dragoness had gone minutes before. However, before Richter left, he picked up the oddly forged combat knife and brought it with him.

The forest was quiet, but more wolves were sure to have heard the howl that their dying comrade had let loose. Richter needed to find help, and quick. He wouldn't be able to withstand another attack, not with the state that he was in.

The Earth Dragon continued to limp through the forest, a paw clutched to the gash on his left side in an attempt to stop the blood flow that was still seeping away from the wound.

He stopped quickly and put a head to the ground, hoping to sense any movement around him. He felt nothing and heard nothing besides the normal ambiance of the forest.

It was much too quiet.

He needed help, now. Richter grimaced and weighed his options. If more wolves attacked, there was no way he'd be able to survive. But, without calling for help, Tamara and Tyron might not be able to find him.

"_Tamara!_" Richter shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping to draw the dragoness to his location. With his luck, it would draw the enemy in as well.

As if in response, three howls were heard around the Earth Dragon.

Time was running out.

Richter cursed silently to himself as he continued to limp in the direction of the normal meeting place for the group. He had to get there, and quickly.

Suddenly, the Earth Dragon was not alone.

Three more wolves jumped out of the brush around the Earth Dragon. One had black fur, one had the same grayish-brown tint that the other wolf that Richter had killed earlier had and one had a tan, almost yellow shade. All three seemed much older than the other wolf that Richter had fought. The black one seemed to be a leader of sorts, and he approached Richter with a snarl.

"Dragon," the wolf said in a low and guttural voice.

"Feral," Richter shot back.

The wolf growled at the racist term, but not attack. "Dragon, we are here to request the surrender of your city to the Bravago Clan."

"_Bravago?_" Richter thought to himself. Bravago was a large, mountainous region north of Draxis and Warfang, across the mountain range of Fierta. It was much like the region of Dante's Freezer in the north, but Bravago was on the same continent of Warfang and Draxis. It had high mountains, but in between the peaks themselves, it might be possible for life to make a living...

"Well, Dragon? What will it be?" The wolf said once more, his hand reaching for a scimitar in its sheathe as his side.

"Taunting him will get nowhere, Kameron," the tan-furred one said all of a sudden. Both Richter and the black furred wolf, Kameron, looked to the side and observed the new voice.

The tan wolf stood on the side of the small clearing, hands on its hips with a small dagger on its right hand. Richter realized that it was actually a female. She had white fur on her underside and large, triangular ears on top of her head. Her blue eyes stared directly at the leader, now known as Kameron to Richter.

"He's barely of age, how do you think he'll react?" She asked.

Kameron narrowed his eyes and approached the female, motioning to the grayish-brown one to keep an eye on Richter. He nodded at Kameron and moved behind Richter, restraining the Earth Dragon with his powerful arms. Richter did not fight it, he was only interested in hearing what the tan one had to say.

"If you think you have any sway over me," Kameron said slowly, "then you are gravely mistaken, Avalene." The female, Avalene, as Kameron had called her, remained silent. He snarled, but continued, "I've seen him outside the city many times, he hunts with the Fire Dragon that leads the settlement, Peron."

Avalene's eyes narrowed as she pushed Kameron back towards Richter, saying, "Fine. Conduct your 'negotiations' then."

Kameron growled at the female and then turned back to Richter as he said, "Now, Dragon. What is your answer...will Draxis finally surrender?"

Richter spat in the wolf's face, saying, "I'll never give up my home to you, _Feral_."

Kameron recoiled slightly and growled. He slapped Richter across the face with his paw and drew the scimitar from its sheathe. He brought it up to Richter's throat and cut a small portion of the Earth Dragon's scales away, causing a small amount of blood to trickle down from the cut.

Richter felt the airflow in his throat stiffen up.

He was going to die.

"What...what do you want from me...Fer-Feral?" Richter stuttered out from his maw. He was scared, but tried to not show it.

"I want you to send a message for me, _dragon_," Kameron said with a grin, "You're going to tell your father that Kameron send his...regards, and that he should think twice about my proposal."

"You fool," Richter said slowly, "He'll never give over our home to the likes of you, feral."

Kameron laughed, an evil and resonating sound that echoed through the clearing. He stopped suddenly and said, "I think he might be willing to reconsider if he finds his son dead in the forest, don't you?"

Richter growled and tried to open his maw to release an earth shot, but the grayish-brown one had his maw closed shut and his body restrained.

Kameron laughed once more and brought the scimitar up to Richter's throat again.

"Goodbye, _dragon_."

Richter never felt the scimitar pierce his throat or the pain afterward. The Earth Dragon immediately collapsed to the ground in a pool of his own, red blood.

* * *

"_Tamara!" _a voice suddenly shouted through the forest.

"Richter!" Tamara shouted back. She immediately took off in the direction of the scream, with Tyron in tow.

Both dragons ran as fast as they could, hoping to find where Richter had yelled from and what had caused him to do it. The two dragons ran and ran for twenty minutes, hoping to find any sign of the Earth Dragon. Tyron stopped in the middle of a small clearing at least a mile away from where he had killed the deer earlier.

Tamara noticed this and backpedaled towards the Fire Dragon. "What...what? What did you see, Tyron?"

Tyron put a nose to the air, smelling for something. He turned back to the Ice Dragoness and pointed to a nearby clearing. "I smell...blood," he said quickly.

Tamara's eyes grew wide as bolted towards the clearing. She looked around quickly and noticed a trail of blood leading in one direction, away from the small clearing. To the right side of the trail sat a dead wolf in a tattered cloak, his stomach torn open with small pieces of earth protruding from his body. Tamara glanced at it and almost got sick, but she regained her composure and looked towards the blood trail. She motioned to Tyron to follow her, and set out running once more.

The blood trail was small, it looked like, a small trickle here and there, but the further Tamara went away from the body of the wolf, the more blood there was to be found. It looked as if the wound had opened up the further that Richter had gone along.

This was not good.

After following the small trail of blood for at least four hundred yards, the two dragons came upon something that made Tamara scream and Tyron to almost faint.

Richter was lied down in the middle of a clearing, with a large pool of crimson-red blood around his sprawled out form. There were two gashes on his body, once large one on his left side that looked as if it had been done by a combat knife, and the other was on the Earth Dragon's neck.

The wound on his neck was a clear cut, short and refined. It had done by a sword of some sort, by with extreme precision.

Tamara screamed and ran up to the Earth Dragon. "Richter! _Richter_!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Tyron ran up to the sprawled over form of the Earth Dragon. He reached into the satchel that always carried on his person and brought out a small handful of red gems. He put a few next to each wound and both dragons watched in silence as the Earth Dragon absorbed the crystals. Both wounds faded slightly, but the cut on his left side didn't heal. There was a large scar on his body now, nearly identical to the one that Tamara had on her underbelly and neck area.

Tamara looked up at Tyron and whimpered, "Does...does he have a pulse?"

Tyron put his paw to Richter's neck and felt in the area around the area where the Earth Dragon's shoulder met his neck. Tyron sat there for a few seconds, waiting. He looked down at his paw, and then back up at Tamara. "Tamara...I..."

"What, what! Does he have a pulse or not? _Tell me_!" she shouted at the Fire Dragon.

Tyron took in a deep breath.

"Tamara, Richter is-"

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know. This is my worst cliffhanger so far and I'm sure I'll get death threats for it. XD I promise you, a lot of questions will be answered next time around. Next chapter will be important and will introduce our favorite feral wolves in detail, their motives for attacking Draxis, their actual personalities and how they live. Also, Cynder and Spyro will make another appearance as well as another plot point that may surprise some of you. Stay tuned! :]**

**Wow...I can't believe just how popular this story is becoming now. 5,000 views, 97 reviews, and over 30 favorites and follows. Guys, this is...amazing. I never thought I'd get this kind of attention on this story, but you all have definitely proved me wrong. Eternal Slumber is becoming one of the most reviewed stories in the Spyro Archive, and that is all because of you, the faithful readers, that keep this thing going.**

**Alright, a few more announcements this time around. Please read!**

**1. I have started a twitter account to keep you all updated on my progress. UnitOmicron. Follow me for updates on Eternal Slumber, as well as any other future projects that I may have planned!**

**2. I am now staffing a new forum, Warfang Elite: Writing Quarters, that was founded by my good friend, Avimus. If you ever want to discuss anything with me, that would be the place to go and post. Please, come on in! I'd be happy to chat with you.**

**3. For those of you that are not follow me personally, I posted a new story last week called '****_Echoes of the Past: A One-Shot'. _****If you enjoy reading this story, make sure to check it out! It features a few O/Cs from Eternal Slumber, as well as a new character that will be introduced in the sequel to Eternal Slumber, Thane.**

**4. Relating to the last message, I now have the entire story line of Eternal Slumber planned out! There IS going to be a sequel to this story! Yay! :D**

**Alright, special thanks again this week to Airchi for being an awesome beta!**

**Thanks again to my mentor and friend, Darkness Oversoul for her helpful advice on how to write this story.**

**Thanks to HKGhost (Shadow) once again for helping me write this chapter and keeping me motivated to continue.**

**Finally, don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile! Richter is currently leading with 5 votes, and Emuleta and Niere are tied for second with 3 votes each.**

**Thanks for reading and giving ES 5,000 views! I couldn't do this without you guys! Thanks again.**

**Dominis det vobis fortitudo. -Unit Omicron**


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